Reuters AlertNet Lite - Central & Eastern Africa: IRIN-Central & Eastern Africa Weekly Round-up 394 for 4

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Central & Eastern Africa: IRIN-Central & Eastern Africa Weekly Round-up 394 for 4 - 10 August 2007

10 Aug 2007 14:08:13 GMT
Source: IRIN

NAIROBI, 10 August 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

DRC: Starving detainees escape South Kivu prison DRC: UNHCR set to recommence work in Moba - UN official

TANZANIA: Cholera outbreak in northern region, says government official KENYA: Displaced numbers grow as more flee attacks in volatile district UGANDA: Marburg contracted from skinned monkey, says official UGANDA: 'No more Marburg cases' – health minister

See Also:

UGANDA: Displaced families in two minds over return home http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73654

CONGO: Grappling with malnutrition and post-conflict woes http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73653

DRC: Starving detainees escape South Kivu prison

More than 100 inmates escaped from the rundown central prison in Uvira, an area on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, after a demonstration over conditions, area administrator Eoloko Nsala said.

"The detainees said they were starving. They staged an angry protest before threatening the prison chief," said Nsala.

He said the state could not afford to feed and take care of detainees: "The prison's food supplies had dried up. Even the donations by Caritas [a Catholic non-governmental organisation] had been suspended, leaving the prisoners without anything to eat." Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73594

DRC: UNHCR set to recommence work in Moba - UN official

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it will resume operations in Moba, in Katanga Province, southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – a week after a demonstration rocked the town and led to the evacuation of UN staff.

"We had stopped the refugee repatriation movement following the problems in Moba, now we can continue," Love Mtesa, the chairman of the executive committee of UNHCR said on 9 August in the capital Kinshasa, at the end of a weeklong visit to the country.

Mtesa, who is Zambia's ambassador to the UN, said repatriation efforts would continue and the Congolese authorities "have said they are ready to receive them". Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73667

TANZANIA: Cholera outbreak in northern region, says government official

Ten people have died and 20 others were admitted to various health centres after an outbreak of cholera in the northern Tanzanian region of Mara over the past week, a senior health official said.

"The disease was confirmed on Thursday. Medical supplies and teams of doctors and nurses were immediately dispatched to Bunda district, where the disease was first reported on Tuesday," Valentino Bhangi, medical officer in charge of Mara region told IRIN by phone from Musoma on 4 August. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73595

KENYA: Displaced farmers pay for police escorts

Ongoing clashes that have displaced more than 100,000 people in Mt Elgon District near the Kenya-Uganda border have disrupted farming and trading activities, sources said.

"Those who had planted potatoes on their farms need to pay police escorts to go to their farms and to go to the market to sell the produce," Sokwony Laikong, a teacher in the affected areas, said.

Former resident Geoffrey Ngeywa, who is now living in the neighbouring Marakwet district, said: "Life is very hard; people have fled their homes due to the tension. There are also a lot of burglaries and destruction of property." Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73546

UGANDA: Marburg contracted from skinned monkey, says official

The Marburg virus outbreak in western Uganda that was confirmed on 30 July could have been contracted from a Colobus monkey, which was caught and skinned by two people, health officials said.

"We have so far gone 14 days since the first case and if 21 days elapse without any other case, then the outbreak would have passed," Sam Okware, commissioner for health services, said.

Okware added: "[The first victim] killed a Colobus monkey and skinned it with the help of the second person who also fell sick. We strongly suspect that this how he got infected. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73593

UGANDA: 'No more Marburg cases' – health minister

The outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in Uganda's western Kamwenge District has been contained, but the country will maintain active surveillance for several more weeks, authorities said.

"Today is 25 days since the last contact with the case of the last Marburg patient, who was buried on 14 July 2007 in Luwero District," said Health Minister Steven Malinga. "This is more than the maximum incubation period of 21 days for the Marburg virus infection. There have been no more Marburg cases in the country over that period."

He added: "Theoretically, the transmission chain has been broken, the transmission has been stopped and the outbreak contained. However, we have decided, as a precautionary measure, to maintain active surveillance, case management, infections control and social mobilisation activities for an additional 21 days." Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73652

Email this article Send comments

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Uganda profile
· View map

• Zambia profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

• EUROPE MUST TAKE THE LEAD TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
IRC - UK

• The UMCOR Hotline for August 07, 2007
UMCOR - USA

• ACT Dateline: LWF empowers the most vulnerable in northern Uganda
ACT - Switzerland

• London school mixes business with charity
WER - UK

• The suffering of women and children in northern Uganda
SOS-Kinderdorf International

MORE >>

Latest news

• Central & Eastern Africa: IRIN-Central & Eastern Africa Weekly Round-up 394 for 4 - 10 August 2007

• Kenya bans use of recalled HIV/AIDS drug

• KENYA: Call for stronger laws to curb small arms' proliferation

• DRC: UNHCR set to recommence work in Moba - UN official

• Erratic rains, raids and response delays slow recovery

MORE >>

Last updated:Fri Aug 10 14:11:17 2007