ADDIS ABABA: About 929 new measles cases have been reported across three regions in Ethiopia, namely Somali, Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP) regions, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Tuesday.
In the latest situation update, the office believed that as of March 3, the Doloado and Bokolmayo districts of the Liban zone in the Somali region had registered about 700 new cases and 12 deaths since December 2021.
The measles outbreak affected 15 localities, including five refugee camps in the zone, it noted.
According to the UN humanitarian office, the regional health bureau and the World Health Organization (WHO) are considering a measles vaccination campaign targeting children from six months to 10 years in all districts of the Liban zone and two neighboring districts in Afder by the second week of March.
Active monitoring and surveillance are also said to be carried out in other locations in the region with suspected cases.
Meanwhile, as of Feb. 25, 104 cases were logged in the Borena zone in the Oromia region, and the Gamo zone in the SNNP region registered 125 cases, the UN office added.
Last April, the WHO warned that several African countries could experience an outbreak of measles amid stalled vaccination against the viral disease due to disruptions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.