At least 30 children have been killed so far by an outbreak of measles inside the UN base in Bor in South Sudan, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

“Big measles outbreak – 25 children killed,” wrote Sarah Crowe, chief of Unicef Crisis Communications, in an e-mailed message, while a later press release revised the number to “at least 30 child deaths” at the Bor base.

In a press release entitled ‘Dire humanitarian crisis emerging in South Sudan,’ the UN agency said that it sent five health officials to Bor where they distributed vaccines and trained 10 teams of local vaccinators to immunize at least 4,000 children in the “cramped and overcrowded camp.”

They said they also supplied Vitamin A to boost children’s immune system. “Few humanitarian agencies have been able to gain access to the population of Bor” said the UN agency adding, “grave insecurity means only a limited number of aid workers are able to operate within the centre.”

Bor is just 140 km from Juba but the road has been a frontline in the South Sudan conflict. The town itself is in ruins, the hospital and clinics have been looted or destroyed, and staff have fled.

Throughout much of December and January the UN was unable to bring in adequate supplies to the Bor base, or to rotate humanitarian personnel in and out according to schedule. The UN Humanitarian Air Service has announced the resumption of regular flights to Bor three times per week beginning tomorrow. 

Photo: South Korean soldiers provide water at a camp in Bor, 26 Dec. 2013 (Yonhap News Agency)