Teams from MSF working in collaboration with local health authorities in the DRC recently completed measles vaccinations for approximately 21,000 children aged six months to five years in northern Katanga province. In a statement released last week, MSF noted that the area had seen an alarming rise in the number of cases of measles - an extremely contagious, potentially fatal disease - since 1 January. Area health centres had registered 173 cases of measles, with 82 cases recorded during the week of 9 July alone. MSF enacted a short-term vaccination project that began 23 July and was completed by 5 August ahead of the rainy season, which renders many villages in the region inaccessible for months.
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