Dozens of suspected measles cases have been recorded at Yida camp in South Sudan’s Unity State, according to medical sources. A vaccination campaign is underway.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, a medical source working with the Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) said they have identified about 36 cases of measles last Sunday.
He added that vaccination centres have been established to vaccinate children who are under six months to 15 years old. Measles tests were carried out in the camp two weeks ago but did not prove the existence of an epidemic among children in the camp, the doctor explained.
He also called on parents to report suspected cases of measles in the camp as well as vaccinating any child at the age susceptible to measles infection.
Measles is a contagious disease its symptoms include fever, cough and inflamed eyes.
OCHA, the UN humanitarian coordination agency, confirmed the suspicion of a measles outbreak in the camp last week, reporting that health workers found 19 suspected cases that were not yet confirmed by lab results.
Service crisis
South Kordofan refugees who have recently arrived in Yida camp are reporting shortages of food, shelter and other basic services. Nearly 400 households arrived recently from Kiga village in South Kordofan.
They were driven from their home area by fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces with allied militias and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front last September.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj inside the camp, several refugees said they are experiencing an acute shortage of food and shelter since they reached Yida. Musa Suleiman, a refugee, said they are living in open areas and under trees without shelter.
UN agencies came up with an idea to relocate the 400 refugees to the Ajuang Thok camp. For their part, the refugees rejected their relocation to the neighbouring camp, instead calling on the organizations to give them food and services in Yida camp.
“After the organizations distributed to us some relief items, afterward they gave us 72 hours so that we could go to Ajuang Thok, but the refugees rejected that,” Suleiman said. “Now they sanction us by withholding distribution of food and other services.”
File photo: An aid agency responds to a measles outbreak with vaccinations (UNICEF)