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**Shannon Bennett** · June 14, 2006, 08:13 PM

Re: Plague, pneumonic - Congo

Not a pleasant way to go. Poor people.

**Snowy Owl** · June 23, 2006, 06:35 AM

Re: Plague, pneumonic - Congo

MSF fears spread of DRC plague outbreak

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1669806.htm

By Africa correspondent Zoe Daniel

Aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is warning an outbreak of pneumonic plague in the Democratic Republic of Congo could get out of control if more help does not arrive.

MSF is the only charity working on the crisis in the Ituri district, where 22 people have died and 144 have been infected with pneumonic plague since early June.

MSF has set up two isolation centres in the area.

The agency is concerned that other aid agencies have not stepped in to identify and restrict the spread of the airborne disease.

The outbreak has spread to new areas in the last few days and doctors fear that it could get out of control.

They say sick people and those who have had contact with them must be identified and isolated immediately.

**Snowy Owl** · June 23, 2006, 06:36 AM

Re: Plague, pneumonic - Congo

Insecurity fans spread of pneumonic plague in Congo - 22 dead

 Nairobi_(dpa) _ Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) urged its international partners to help contain an outbreak of the highly contagious pneumonic plague in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has already killed 22 people, but where insecurity is fanning the spread of the disease.
"We urgently need all actors present in the field who have the capacity to conduct active searches for suspected cases and identification of individuals in contact with suspected cases to mobilize resources," said Jerome Souquet, MSF Head in Ituri district.
"Otherwise, we risk being confronted with an outbreak spiralling out of control. We have already seen the epidemic outbreak spreading to new areas in the last few days," Souquet said.
Continuing insecurity in the central African country's volatile north-eastern regions makes it difficult for health-workers to trace infected locals, many of whom are scattered around the thickly forested region, in attempts to avoid armed groups that roam the area.
Souquet said that while the World Health Organization (WHO) was instrumental in issuing an alert for the latest outbreak in early June, he urged the UN body and local health authorities to scale up activities.
Repeated efforts to get comment from WHO proved unsuccessful.
MSF is currently treating 144 patients and have deployed medical teams to set up isolation centres in two new districts in a bid to cope with the increasing number of new cases.
The charity fears that if there is no rapid containment of the outbreak, it risks spreading to five areas in the Rethy district, inaccessible due to insecurity. Some 100,000 people live in the outbreak area.
"An extension of the outbreak to areas where access is rendered difficult could have alarming consequences on the health situation," Souquet added.
Pneumonic plague is endemic to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where sporadic outbreaks are known to occur.
Patients have a good chance of recovery if treated rapidly with antibiotics, but this highly virulent respiratory disease can lead to high fatalities if left untreated.

Insecurity fans spread of pneumonic plague in Congo - 22 dead - Democratic Republic of the Congo

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KKEE-6QZRT6?OpenDocument

News and Press Release in English on Democratic Republic of the Congo; published on 22 Jun 2006 by DPA

**Snowy Owl** · June 23, 2006, 06:37 AM

Re: Plague, pneumonic - Congo

Caritas Internationalis calls for aid in Congo chaos

Page not found - CathNews

http://www.cathnews.com/news/606/127.php

Caritas Internationalis has launched a new emergency aid appeal for people displaced by the world's largest ongoing conflict between militias and government forces in the Ituri district of Congo.

Caritas reports that since 1999, the Ituri district, along the country's northeastern border with Uganda, has been subject to continuous outbreaks of violence, among rival ethnic militia groups whose allegiances are always changing, and between these groups and the government's armed forces.

Most recently, various militias have remoulded themselves into the Revolutionary Movement of the Congo, whose main objective seems to be to derail any attempt to bring the area back under state control.

The country's first democratic elections are scheduled for 30 July.

"There are people in the Congo who prefer to keep the country in chaos for their own benefit, but they must not be allowed to destroy what the Congolese people have been working for," said Pierre Cibambo, desk officer for the Africa region at Caritas Internationalis.

Caritas says that despite the signing of a peace agreement in 2002, the violence in the east has continued largely unabated, as militias compete for the region's vast mineral wealth.

Caritas Congo and specifically Caritas of the Bunia diocese report that during the recent clashes that have been taking place since January, both militias and government forces have been living off the civilian population to survive, taking their food, burning down villages and committing acts of sexual violence and rape.

The local Caritas in Bunia also says that water supplies are coming under tremendous strain, and there has been increasing sickness, with few medicines available to treat the ill.

Caritas D?veloppement Bunia will manage a project targeting more than 100,000 of the most isolated and vulnerable victims. It will provide them with clothing, blankets, and tarpaulins to be used in building shelter, soap, kitchen sets and water containers. The program is meant to hold them over for a period of three months.

Caritas Internationalis aims to raise AU$675,000 (US$500,000) from this appeal.

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Plague, pneumonic - Congo

Plague, pneumonic - Congo

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