A health official in Sudan's Um Dafog area, which lies on the South Darfur-Central African Republic-Chad border region, dismissed reports that at least 15 people were killed by measles disease in the area last week.

Abdullah Mudardam, member of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in the Um Dafog area, told Radio Tamazuj that a routine vaccination has been ongoing carried since 27 June.

He said they had recorded 20 suspected measles cases in May, prompting the programme to send vaccination teams to the area. 

Abdullah admitted that about 10 people died recently, "but all of them were not killed by the measles outbreak."

The local health official attributed the spread of the measles disease to lack of routine vaccination in the remote area.

He also accused the State Ministry of Health in South Darfur of neglecting Um Dafog. Khartoum media recently reported that about 15 people were killed by measles in the area.

Photo credit: MSF