Sudan: Yellow fever outbreak - 171 fatalities; 849 total suspected cases

[Emily]

Re: Sudan: Unknown Fever (possibly measles) Claims Several Victims

Hassan added that all cases appeared among cattle owners and herders.

That could be a good clue. Q fever?

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Sudan: Unknown Fever (possibly measles) Claims Several Victims

Unknown fever claims six lives
MERSHING
(25 Oct.) -

An unknown fever has led to the death of six people and infected 10 others in Mershing locality, South Darfur, Radio Dabanga has learned.

Hassan Adam Mohamed Abu al-Hassan, member of the Legislative Council of Al-Malam and Mershing in South Darfur constituency, disclosed in a press statement issued in Nyala on Tuesday October 23, that an unknown fever is spreading in areas north of Nyala and East Jebel Marra and added that six new cases were found in Gadirki area in Mershing locality.

The statement read that a medical team has taken blood samples to investigate the cause of the disease. Hassan added that all cases appeared among cattle owners and herders.

...

http://www.radiodabanga.org/node/37450

[alert]

Re: Sudan: Unknown Fever (possibly measles) Claims Several Victims

I'm not sure I agree with the speculation about Ebola or Marburg here, especially with mention that the cases have come from "various areas in Sudan's South Darfur state". Those viruses tend to produce clusters of cases, not cases spread across an entire state.

Published Date: 2012-10-23 15:13:27
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed febrile illness, fatal - Sudan: (SF) RFI
Archive Number: 20121023.1360013

UNDIAGNOSED FEBRILE ILLNESS, FATAL - SUDAN: (SOUTH DARFUR) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
************************************************** ********************************
A ProMED-mail post

http://www.promedmail.org

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases

http://www.isid.org

Date: Tue 23 Oct 2012
Source: China Daily, Xinhua News Agency report [edited]

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/xinhua/2012-10-23/content_7317475.html

Khartoum's Al-Sudani daily newspaper reported Tuesday [23 Oct 2012] that 6 people died of and 10 others are infected with unknown fever in various areas in Sudan's South Darfur state.

"Unknown fever appeared in various areas of the state and infected 16 people on Saturday and Sunday [20-21 Oct 2012], and 6 of them died," the paper quoted Hassan Mohamed Abul-Hassan, a local official in the state, as saying.

"As soon as we received reports on the cases, we have contacted the federal Ministry of Health," he said, noting that medical teams have been sent to these areas to investigate the cause of the fever and provide treatment for the infected people.

The local official further said that samples have been taken from the infected people and sent to Khartoum but that the test results have not come out yet.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[In the absence of additional information on the clinical presentation of the cases other than fatalities from a febrile illness it is hazardous to attempt to speculate a differential diagnosis at this time. The range of possible diagnoses includes diseases of viral, bacterial, and parasitic origin. With the current ongoing outbreaks of Marburg virus disease in Uganda and Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is tempting to consider a viral hemorrhagic fever as the etiology of a fatal febrile disease outbreak in Sudan, but not casting the diagnostic net further at this point seems potentially hazardous at best.

Earlier this month (October 2012), ProMED-mail carried a report of an undiagnosed fatal illness outbreak occurring in Zalingei, Central Darfur state. In that report, the description was "most of the victims of the unknown fever are Arab nomads and gold excavation workers. ...the patients suffer from headaches, vomiting, and fatigue". A similar report on that same outbreak carried a few days later on ReliefWeb mentioned there were 7 deaths, and attributed them to poor access to good health care and medications in the region. There was mention of specimens having been sent to Khartoum for testing as well. (http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/se...-unknown-fever).

Searching maps for locations, the 1st report above refers to deaths occurring "in various areas of the state [South Darfur]." The earlier report refers to the deaths occurring in the "area of Korley, south of Zalingei." Looking at a March 2012 map of Sudan available on Relief Web (http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic...file/sudan.pdf) and looking at a map showing the location of Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state http://www.myweather2.com/City-Town/...arfur/map.aspx, one sees the proximity of the states, it is tempting to wonder whether the 2 outbreak reports might be related events, as the descriptions on both news reports seem similar. Again, this may well be a hazardous speculation as transportation is significantly challenged in these areas.

We await more information from knowledgeable sources in the region. - Mod.MPP]

[Shiloh]

Central Darfur: Seven dead from as yet unidentified fever in the Korley area

Source: http://www.radiodabanga.org/node/36914


Seven die from unknown fever
ZALINGEI

(11 Oct.) -

A number of residents from Central Darfur complained to Radio Dabanga about the increasing number of deaths and cases of an unknown fever in the region, in addition, to the increasing number of malaria and measles cases.

According to them, at least seven people died in the past two days in the area of Korley, south of Zalingei, as a result of the diseases and the shortage of medicines and poor health services.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, the minister of health in Central Darfur, Issa Mohamed Musa Yusuf, confirmed that an unknown type of fever and malaria have been spreading in Nertety and Zalingei localities.

Yusuf added that so far three people have died and another 10 were diagnosed with the fever in these localities. Besides, he acknowledged to have received complaints from residents, especially from Romatas camp, about the spread of the unknown fever and the increase of malaria and measles cases...

[Ronan Kelly]

Sudan: Unknown Fever Claims Several Victims
Tagged: East Africa, Health, Sudan
7 OCTOBER 2012
Comment
Zalingei ? A number of citizens passed away as a result of an unknown fever in Central Darfur during the past two days.

The reports on the exact number of victims are conflicting; eye witnesses say at least 10 people died, while a medical source from Zalingei confirmed the death of two people so far. One of the victims comes from the area of Doudou, west of Zalingei, and the second victim was working in Jebel 'Aamer, North Darfur in the gold mines.

He said the two victims died from injuries caused by the measles. The source disclosed they received several reports on the spread of the fever. The areas of Korley, Tur Kolmey and Doudou have all seen cases of the fever.
...

http://allafrica.com/stories/201210080007.html