UN confirms measles in tsunami-hit Sumatra
The World Health Organisation confirmed two unconnected cases of measles in tsunami survivors on the Indonesian island of Sumatra today.
Health workers quickly vaccinated more than 1,000 people to head off the spread of the virus.
The cases occurred in separate villages outside the regional capital of Banda Aceh, according to WHO, which considers just one case of measles an outbreak because it is so contagious.
The UN children’s agency, Unicef, already was in the midst of a campaign to vaccinate 600,000 people in devastated Sumatra against the disease when the cases occurred, and it immediately inoculated a ring of 1,200 people living around the villages where each case was confirmed.
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses. In the developing world, it kills between 3% and 5% of children who contract it.
