Measles makes more than 2,500 victims in the DRC



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An outbreak of measles caused more than 2,700 deaths between January and early August in the region of DRCkilling more people in seven months than the Ebola virus in one year, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported in a tweet read on Saturday.

"The measles epidemic declared on June 10 is the deadliest for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been known since 2011-2012 Between January and early August 2019, it infected more than 145,000 people and caused 2,758 deaths, "according to the report. MSFDRC Friday tweet.

"Despite the magnitude of the global measles epidemic DRCWith $ 2.5 million raised from the $ 8.9 million required for the response plan, the contrast with the #Ebola emergency, which attracts hundreds of millions of dollars, is striking, "says the medical organization humanitarian.

Since the beginning of the year, MSF has vaccinated 474,863 children and cared for 27,439 patients.

MSF says he's fighting the measles epidemic in 13 DRC provinces alongside local teams of the Congolese Ministry of Health. The measles outbreak is reported in 23 of the country's 26 provinces, health authorities said in June.

"Since the beginning of the year, MSF vaccinated 474,863 children and treated 27,439 patients, "reads again.

Measles mainly affects children aged 5 to 6 months and young adults.

The Ebola virus disease has made a total of 1,905 deaths since its declaration of August 1, 2018, according to the latest assessment of Congolese health authorities released Wednesday.

In mid-July, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the measles epidemic was almost as many victims as the other two combined epidemics: Ebola and cholera. The measles epidemic cost 1,981 lives, compared with 1,676 for Ebola and 279 for cholera.

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