Thursday, November 15, 2007
RIFT VALLEY Fever has killed 92 people in Sudan since reports of an outbreak surfaced a week ago and it is still spreading, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday.
The UN body has started holding daily meetings to monitor the spread of the disease, which can kill as many as half of those who contract it, has no effective human vaccine and can devastate livestock.
A WHO spokeswoman said the latest figures showed 314 known human cases in Sudan, up from 228 reported six days ago, with a death rate of just under 30 per cent.
In its most serious haemorrhagic form, which the WHO says has appeared in Sudan, it can kill up to 50 per cent of the people it infects.
Herders and other people who work with animals are most vulnerable to the disease, which can spread through contact with contaminated blood or bites from infected mosquitoes.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said it had sent an animal health expert to Sudan to help the government contain any outbreak in livestock.Reuters
The UN body has started holding daily meetings to monitor the spread of the disease, which can kill as many as half of those who contract it, has no effective human vaccine and can devastate livestock.
A WHO spokeswoman said the latest figures showed 314 known human cases in Sudan, up from 228 reported six days ago, with a death rate of just under 30 per cent.
In its most serious haemorrhagic form, which the WHO says has appeared in Sudan, it can kill up to 50 per cent of the people it infects.
Herders and other people who work with animals are most vulnerable to the disease, which can spread through contact with contaminated blood or bites from infected mosquitoes.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said it had sent an animal health expert to Sudan to help the government contain any outbreak in livestock.Reuters