Measles: A quarter million cases in DRC

By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews

In a follow-up on the measles epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health officials have now reported 250,270 total cases through November 3.

In addition, the measles death toll has risen to 5,110 in 2019.

During the most recent week, officials saw an additional 7,559 measles cases including 172 deaths (CFR 2.3%).

In total, 238 (46%) of the 519 health zones across the 26 provinces of the country have reported a confirmed measles outbreak.

Measles has been a huge public health problem across the globe in 2019, not just in DRC. Between Jan 1 and Jul 31, 2019, 182 countries reported 364,808 measles cases to the WHO. During the same period last year, 129,239 measles cases were reported from 181 countries.

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“There have been almost three times as many cases reported to date in 2019 as there were at this same time last year,” the WHO said. “This follows successive yearly increases since 2016, indicating a concerning and continuing upsurge in the overall measles burden worldwide.”

Besides DRC, which has reported the most cases of any country this year, Ukraine and Madagascar have reported very large outbreaks.

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