MSF investigates meningitis outbreak in northwest

A three-member team of nurses from Medicos Sin Fronteras (MSF-Spain) arrived on Wednesday in the north-western town of Batangafo, in the Central African Republic (CAR), to verify a meningitis outbreak reported on 1 February, the MSF country representative told IRIN. "The team has a mobile laboratory to carry out Pastorex [meningitis] tests on the ground and will leave anti-meningitis drugs in the Batangafo health centre," Dr Carlos Recio said. He said the team would also distribute brochures on the diagnosis and treatment of the disease to health personnel in Batangafo, 386 northwest of Bangui, the nation's capital. The team would then bring samples to Bangui's Pasteur Institute for further analysis. "If the situation is very serious, the team will stay there longer," Recio added. Initially, he said, the team had gone to other northwestern towns for the 23-28 February anti-polio effort, when the Batangafo emergency was reported to MSF. When the anti-polio drive was postponed to 1-3 March, the team headed to Batangafo. People in the northwest of the country have been exposed to various hardships, including epidemics, due to the destruction of health facilities during the six-month rebellion that ended on 15 March 2003. Most epidemiological surveillance centres in the area have failed to resume operations. Several measles and diarrhoea epidemics have been reported in towns there, thereby prompting MSF to conduct immunisation drives. Meningitis outbreaks in the CAR are common during the six-month dry season that starts in December, especially in the country's north, which lies within the African meningitis belt that stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia.