Cases of blindness reported in Sherkole camp, Ethiopia

Infections believed to be resulting in hearing and vision loss have been recorded at Sherkole refugee camp in Ethiopia, according to residents of the camp.

Infections believed to be resulting in hearing and vision loss have been recorded at Sherkole refugee camp in Ethiopia, according to residents of the camp.

The camp accommodates a large number of people mostly from Sudan’s Blue Nile State where conflict erupted in 2011 between the Sudan Armed Forces with allied militias and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North under the command of Gen. Malik Agar.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, several Blue Nile refugees complained of the alleged spread of infections causing blindness and deafness in the camp. “The refugees do not know the causes and symptoms of this serious infection due to information gap in terms of medical issues,” a refugee said.

Yesterday about 13 infected people were taken for treatment by RADO organization to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, she added.

Many infected people in the camp did not receive medical attention yet, the 13 cases which were transferred to Addis Ababa were randomly selected from six zones out of seven, the refugees explained.

Radio Tamazuj tried to contact concerned authorities at the camp in order to comment on the matter but they could not be reached.

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