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Measles vaccination programs underway in South Sudan displacement camps

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WHO has launched a measles vaccination campaign in the Central African Republic after health officials confirmed eight cases of measles among residents of two separate camps for displaced people.

Following the confirmation of measles, WHO, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other partners initiated an emergency response immunization campaign to control the epidemic. Five measles cases were reported at the Don Bosco Centre in Damala and three cases were reported at Bangui M’Poko International Airport.

More than 60,000 children aged 6 months to 15 years are expected to be covered by the immunization activities.

‘‘We have a total of five reported cases at our site, three confirmed in the laboratory and two based on an epidemiological link,’’ Evariste Pabingui, of the Don Bosco Centre at Damala, said in a press release after a field investigation on Dec. 31.

Damala currently has a displaced population of approximately 50,000 people who have fled the capital of the Central African Republic since the violent clashes started Dec. 5.

‘‘Our biggest concern is the overcrowded conditions and the lack of on-site individual and collective sanitation, which could contribute to the rapid spread of the disease unless urgent measures are taken to halt the current outbreak,’’ Pabingui said.

The displaced population at the airport camp, one of the most densely populated in Bangui, is estimated to be 100,000.

‘‘We have already positioned 13 vaccination teams at three sites in the airport camp,’’ Loris De Filippi, operations manager of MSF Italy, said in a press release. MSF has already mobilized 50,000 doses of vaccine for the response campaign.

According to the WHO press release, vaccines and related supplies are already available to UNICEF, which will also provide additional resources to the implementing partners in terms of operating costs.

WHO will provide technical and financial support to the Expanded Programme on Immunization of the Ministry of Health to supervise these immunization activities, which are expected take 3 to 5 days.