| PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL |
| 123456 |
| Tracking the next pandemic: Avian Flu Talk |
new campaign in africa |
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 Posted: October 30 2006 at 5:31pm |
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Liberia: Liberia Regains Voting Rights
Liberia will now participate in all activities of the World Health Organization (WHO), after settling her arrears of US$410,000.00 with the organization. |
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Posted: November 02 2006 at 3:57pm |
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Cholora Cameroon neighbouring the Chad border . 28 dead .
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| Event summary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GLIDE Number | EP-20061102-8230-CMR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event type | Epidemic | Date / time [UTC] | 02/11/2006 - 13:07:17 (Military Time, UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Cameroon | Area | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| County / State | Far North province | City | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cause of event | Unknow | Log date | 02/11/2006 - 13:07:17 (Military Time, UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Damage level | Large  |
Time left | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Latitude: | N 11° 0.000 | Longitude: | E 14° 30.000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of deaths: | 28 persons | Number of injured persons: | Not or Not data | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Evacuated: | - | Infected | 541 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| DESCRIPTION | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A cholera outbreak has killed at least 28 people in Cameroon's Far North province neighbouring Lake Chad. Health authorities blame the outbreak on living conditions and lack of clean drinking water which forced people to fetch water from polluted sources. "The hardest hit is the Logone and Chari division where 28 people have died out of 541 cases registered so far," Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) reported. The provincial delegate for Public Health provided the figures during an emergency meeting in Kousseri, capital of the Far North province, to seek a solution to the crisis. Cholera, caused by water-borne bacterium, is a seasonal problem in much of West Africa. An outbreak last year killed more than 800 people across several countries in the region. The bacterium spreads through contact with faeces and is associated with heavy rains that flood latrines and contaminate drinking water. The disease can kill within 24 hours by inducing vomiting and diarrhoea that cause severe dehydration and shock, but it is easily treatable with a mixture of water and rehydration salts. According to the United Nations, West and Central Africa has the lowest levels of clean water and sanitation in the world. One in five children die before the age of five, often due to diarrhoea and water-borne diseases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted: November 07 2006 at 4:57pm |
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On Doctors and Hospitals. This is really sad . another for my shame file
Zimbabwe: Doctors Protest Condition of Health System
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks November 7, 2006 Bulawayo Doctors in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, have gone on strike to protest against deteriorating health services characterised by widespread shortages of drugs, food and equipment. The stayaway, which started on Monday, is expected to spread to other parts of the country during the course of the week. "It has become very difficult to work with basically nothing to use in all departments; it is disappointing to watch patients deteriorating in a hospital, as no help can be given to them," medical practitioners at the city's two main referral centres, Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals, said in a statement. "Doctors took an oath to save lives, and do not want to continue lying to patients that they can do something for them when they know very well there is nothing they can do, as the hospitals can no longer function." The striking doctors said there was virtually nothing to administer to patients at the two hospitals, and the situation was the same in government-owned health institutions across the country. Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, an NGO, indicated in a recent statement that the country's health facilities had "in fact become death traps, as patients continue to die unnecessarily due to drug shortages." In some instances hospitals had no running water. Officials have acknowledged shortages of key drugs in the recent past. The health delivery system has virtually collapsed in the last seven years due to lack of foreign exchange to purchase medical requirements and a shortage of qualified personnel, who have fled low pay and poor working conditions for greener pastures in other countries. Zimbabwe is going through a severe economic crisis, with serious fuel and food shortages brought on by recurring droughts and the government's fast-track land redistribution programme, which have disrupted agricultural production and slashed export earnings. Doctors in the Bulawayo hospitals were also concerned about the quality and quantity of food being given to patients, and claimed that malnutrition was rampant in government health institutions. At least five patients at the Ingutsheni Hospital for the mentally challenged in Bulawayo died last month after allegedly being diagnosed with malnutrition. The Zimbabwean deputy health minister, Edwin Muguti, confirmed the five deaths at the hospital, but said the authorities had yet to establish the cause.
"There is basically no food to feed the sick, yet it is only natural that patients need to eat for their conditions to improve. This is worrying us so much, and we demand that government sets its priorities right and starts working towards rebuilding the health sector," the doctors said. There was no comment from the Zimbabwe Doctors Association, which officially represents the country's medical practitioners. http://allafrica.com/stories/200611070138.html |
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Posted: November 08 2006 at 5:41am |
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Angola 64 people detected in 24 hours . Cholera .
Epidemic - Africa
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| Event summary | |||
| GLIDE Number | EP-20061108-8302-AGO | ||
| Event type | Epidemic | Date / time [UTC] | 08/11/2006 - 04:56:51 (Military Time, UTC) |
| Country | Angola | Area | Quipungo, Lubango districts |
| County / State | Huíla province | City | - |
| Cause of event | Unknow | Log date | 08/11/2006 - 04:56:51 (Military Time, UTC) |
| Damage level | Heavy  |
Time left | - |
| Latitude: | S 14° 49.000 | Longitude: | E 14° 33.000 |
| Number of deaths: | Not or Not data | Number of injured persons: | Not or Not data |
| Evacuated: | - | Infected | 64 |
| - | |||
| DESCRIPTION | |||
| Sixty four new cases of cholera were detected in the past 24 hours in the districts of Quipungo and Lubango, by health authorities of the southern Huíla provine, informed this Tuesday the acting director of the Provincial Department of Public Health and Control of Endemic Diseases, Félix Januário. According to him, among these cases, 60 were registered in Lubango, with deaths, and four in Quipungo district without claiming any life. Since the cholera outbreak in Huíla, last April, the district of Lubango recorded 1,424 cases with 88 deaths, whilst Quipungo district, 120 kilometres from the chief town, detected 47 cases with 14 fatalities. As from last April, Huíla province registered 1,825 cases of cholera and 121 deaths caused by the disease that affected, apart from Lubango and Quipungo, the districts of Quilengues, Cacula and Matala. | |||
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Posted: November 11 2006 at 3:23am
| Huambo: Malaria Claims Over 400 Lives Huambo, 11/10 - At least 407 people, out of 63.150 patients hospitalised in main hospitals of Central Huambo province, died of malaria from last July to September, ANGOP has learnt. |
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Posted: November 11 2006 at 10:49pmMSU prof travels world to combat bird flu
by Tom Oswald
November 10, 2006 - Within the last year and a half, MSU’s Mick Fulton has traveled twice to Afghanistan and once to the African nation of Rwanda, all in the name of disease prevention.
Specifically, Fulton has been using his knowledge and skills to help those countries and the United States from getting the deadly Asian strain of H5N1 avian influenza, a disease that has already claimed the lives of millions of birds and other animals and more than 100 people around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
His most recent trip, taken this past summer, took him to Rwanda where he offered the hows and whys of dealing with bird flu.
“The Rwandans didn’t have the ability to detect it nor the know-how and equipment to handle it safely,” said Fulton, who is also an associate professor of avian diseases. “My job was to train the trainer. Then he or she would train others. We taught them how to wear protective equipment, make rapid diagnoses and respond in rapid fashion to control the spread of this disease.”
Fulton also participated in a mock disaster which allowed the Rwandans to go through the process, honing communication skills, what the various response steps are and other valuable information.
Avian flu has been known to transmit from bird to person, but only through close contact. This poses a particular problem in nations like Rwanda where people often live in very close contact with their livestock.
“One thing in particular that bothered me was the people would bring their chickens into the house at night,” he said. “Why? To protect them from both two-legged and four-legged predators.”
One solution to that problem: The building of cages which are so sturdy they can’t be broken into or carried off by thieves. Fulton’s journey to Afghanistan earlier this year was a follow-up to his visit there of more than a year ago. He has been assisting in the planning and building of various labs which will help detect bird flu and other catastrophic livestock and poultry diseases.
He said he was struck by the “dramatic changes” that had taken place in Afghanistan since he’d last been there.
“The building and construction that has taken place is just phenomenal,” he said. “Also, people seemed more relaxed than they did a year ago. I saw them mingling on the streets, holding conversations. There seemed to be a more relaxed pace.”
Fulton’s trips around the world are all part of a larger plan designed to keep avian flu from reaching the shores of North America.
“It’s a good strategy,” he said. “If we help fight the bird flu wars in other countries, stop it there, then there’s a better chance that it won’t make it here.”
In North America, predictions that the more deadly strain of bird flu would be here by this fall have yet to materialize, something Fulton called a “head scratcher.”
“Federal officials have done something like 33,000 samples and have yet to find the virus,” he said. “We just scratch our heads and say ‘where did it go?’”
One theory is that a mild strain of H5N1 virus, a close relative to the deadly Asian H5N1 virus, has been present in North American birds for years. To date, it has yet to cause catastrophic disease in the two most likely targets, wild waterfowl and domestic poultry.
“It’s acting like a modified live vaccine,” Fulton said. “Essentially it’s not causing the birds to get sick and it could be protecting them from infection with the nasty strain.”
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Posted: November 15 2006 at 10:55pm| Ethiopia: UN Says Diarrhoea Kills 416
The recent outbreak of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) has killed around 416 people in Ethiopian towns, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affaires (OCHA) said on Tuesday. |
Daily Monitor |
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Posted: November 20 2006 at 6:37amBRAZZAVILLE, 20 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - The avian flu threat continues to hang over the Republic of Congo because, despite a ban, imported poultry and its products still appear in the country’s markets and it is on the flight path of European migratory birds.
"The avian flu worries us no end because this country is already devastated by epidemics, particularly the Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever," Jean-Joseph Akouala, head of epidemiology services for the Department to Fight the Avian Flu in the Ministry of Health, told IRIN.
To avert the initial threat the government produced a 15-point emergency influenza prevention plan, principally banning poultry and poultry product imports. In February, it set up an Interdepartmental National Committee, with a one-billion-franc CFA (about US$2 million) budget under the prime minister, to monitor and prevent an epidemic. The committee immediately opened offices in each of the country's 11 administrative departments, manned by specialists in environmental, affairs, fishing, agriculture and animal husbandry.
However, this has failed to stem the direct imports and those routed though neighbouring countries that elude health officials.
"Our borders are permeable," Gabriel Eleka, the director of public health at the Ministry of Health, said.
Furthermore, there is no legal sanction for those defying the ban, although police and customs agents are allowed to burn these products without compensating the owners.
Another factor increasing the potential for a bird flu attack is the lack of an integrated disease monitoring system among the countries within the central Africa region. Given that the Congo River Basin constitutes a single biosphere with a concentration of viruses and epidemics, this omission is all the more worrying.
"Unfortunately, the Congo Basin is a weak point as regards the response to epidemics," Jean-Vivien Mombouli, the technical adviser at the Ministry of Health and research director at the National Public Health Laboratory, said.
So, despite all the measures taken to prohibit poultry imports from Asia and South America, these are still found in the country's markets. The government says these and other food imports are worth 100 billion francs CFA each year (US$202.8 million). Given that this weakness provides an avenue for possible introduction of the bird flu virus, the government has set up a national food committee called Codex, to test the quality of food available for public consumption.
Public Apathy
In February and March dead birds were found in the Congo, giving rise to fears that the virus had arrived in the country, especially since this occurred at a time when neighbouring Cameroon was affected. Samples sent to South Africa for laboratory analysis proved negative. However, officials said the methods used to collect the samples could have been defective, thereby possibly leading to false negatives readings. "The techniques used to extract the samples were not good," said Mombouli.
The negative test results have relaxed people’s attitude to the virus, to the point of apathy. "People no longer talk about it and think that the disease is under control. [But] it is still there, even if it has not yet arrived at our doorstep.
"It is a viral disease and the virus cannot really be controlled. At this moment, the whole world is fighting to avoid a genetic mutation to the point that the virus jumps from human to human," Akouala said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), on rare occasions the H5N1 virus has crossed the species barrier to infect humans. Normally, it is only transmitted between birds and, less commonly, pigs.
In Africa, the H5N1 virus has broken out in Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Cameroon and Sudan. Taking into account the Congo's equatorial location and porous borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Gabon and Cameroon, it may have to devise and apply tighter control measures than those taken so far if it is to ensure containment and elimination of the virus if it appears.
[On the Net: CONGO: Interview with Dr Jean Vivien Mombouli on threat of avian flu: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53093
lmm/oss/mw
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56428&SelectRegion=Great_Lakes&SelectCountry=CONGO
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Posted: November 21 2006 at 3:02am
| Event summary | |||||||||
| GLIDE Number | EP-20061120-8491-ZMB | ||||||||
| Event type | Epidemic | Date / time [UTC] | 20/11/2006 - 19:17:16 (Military Time, UTC) | ||||||
| Country | Zambia | Area | - | ||||||
| County / State | Luapula | City | Chiengi district | ||||||
| Cause of event | Unknow | Log date | 20/11/2006 - 19:17:16 (Military Time, UTC) | ||||||
| Damage level | Moderate  |
Time left | - | ||||||
| Latitude: | S 8° 39.000 | Longitude: | E 29° 10.000 | ||||||
| Number of deaths: | 5 persons | Number of injured persons: | Not or Not data | ||||||
| Evacuated: | - | Infected | 85 | ||||||
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| Eighty-five more new cholera cases have been recorded in Chiengi district where five people have so far died of the disease, ministry of Health spokesperson, Canisius Banda has disclosed. Dr Banda said in an interview yesterday that the cholera centre in the area had continued to receive new cases and that the situation had worsened hence the appeal by the ministry of Health to Government to close the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Chiengi and other parts of Luapula Province. Dr Banda said the cholera centre had recorded 85 new cases while 15 were still receiving treatment. The ministry of Health has mobilised enough medical personnel to man the centres in border posts to help curb the increase. "The decision to close the border was arrived at in conjunction with the ministry of Home Affairs following the deaths. Closure of borders can happen anywhere as long as the move is done to save lives," he said. Dr Banda also revealed that the Lusaka District Health Management Team (LDHMT) had started carrying out sensitisation campaigns in areas prone to cholera outbreaks. He named Chawama, Matero and Kanyama as some of the townships where medical personnel had started the sensitisation programmes, saying the ministry did not want to wait until people died. The ministry had embarked on epidemic awareness meetings with stakeholders and Dr Banda urged local authorities in Zambia to ensure that they carried out their responsibilities to curb cholera. He said councils should ensure that they provided clean water, controlled street vending and sanitary disposal to curb the epidemic. Home Affairs Permanent Secretary, Peter Mumba, said the closure of the border was as a result of increased cases of cholera in Chiengi and attributed the development to the growing number of people crossing into Zambia. Mr Mumba said that the border post would only be opened after the situation normalised and that the closure was aimed at reducing cholera cases in the area. He called for calm as Government was making efforts to control the situation. He said foreign nationals were flocking into Zambia because of the free medical services, which were being offered hence the decision to close the border. "I can confirm that we have decided to close the Chiengi border post until further notice. But this is temporal," he said.
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Posted: November 21 2006 at 1:40pm
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Posted: November 21 2006 at 4:08pm Judy wrote:"The decision to close the border was arrived at in conjunction with the ministry of Home Affairs following the deaths. Closure of borders can happen anywhere as long as the move is done to save lives," he said. Exactly so. Regardless of the need for goods being imported from other nations and goods being exported to other nations or the following economic backlash on all sides. |
afrol News, 21 November - An outbreak of meningitis has added salt to injury in Southern Sudan that has been crippling with war, famine and other crisis. Already, health experts have discovered 231 cases of suspected meningitis from September to November. 16 of this number have died. Also a possible outbreak of bird flu is investigated.
According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) today, the cases of meningitis were found in Greater Yei County in the Central Equatorial state of autonomous South Sudan.
"The epidemic threshold was crossed in this county during the last week of October. Five cerebral spinal fluid specimens have tested positive for Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A by latex test," a WHO statement said, adding that an outbreak investigation was conducted by the Ministry of the Central Equatorial State with the support of WHO's Early Warning and Response Network (EWARN) team and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also, there was a national multisectoral task force established earlier this year, which includes county health authorities, UNICEF, WHO and non-governmental organisations in coordinating the outbreak response.
"Enhanced surveillance, case management, and social mobilization are underway, as well as the preparation of a vaccination campaign targeting ca 294,000 people in the affected area."
Meningitis, also referred to as meningococcal disease, is a contagious bacterial disease caused by the meningococcus bacteria. It is spread by person-to-person contact through respiratory droplets of infected people.
The disease has three main clinical forms - meningeal syndrome, septic form and pneumonia. And according to health experts, the onset of symptoms is sudden and death can follow within hours. In as many as 10-15 percent of its survivors, there are persistent neurological defects, including hearing loss, speech disorders, loss of limbs, mental retardation and paralysis.
It is also believed that between 5 and 10 percent of a population may be symptomatic carriers of the disease. Overcrowding, prolonged droughts and dusty storms are said to have strained the seasonal disease, which is mainly common among young children.
In addition to the proven meningitis outbreak, South Sudan authorities are struggling with a presumed outbreak of avian flu in Juba, the autonomous region's capital. Tests have still to be verified abroad, but authorities fear a bird flu outbreak may have severe consequences for peasants, many of whom hold chicken as a supplementary food source. In the worst case, large numbers of birds will have to be culled.
By staff writerhttp://www.afrol.com/articles/22822
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Posted: November 23 2006 at 7:24pm
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Posted: November 26 2006 at 5:10pm
| Event summary | |||||||||
| GLIDE Number | BH-20061124-8546-CIV | ||||||||
| Event type | Biological Hazard | Date / time [UTC] | 24/11/2006 - 05:10:31 (Military Time, UTC) | ||||||
| Country | Cote d'Ivoire | Area | - | ||||||
| County / State | Lagunes | City | Abidjan area | ||||||
| Cause of event | Unknow | Log date | 24/11/2006 - 05:10:31 (Military Time, UTC) | ||||||
| Damage level | Moderate |
Time left | - | ||||||
| Latitude: | N 5° 20.467 | Longitude: | W 4° 1.683 | ||||||
| Number of deaths: | Not or Not data | Number of injured persons: | Not or Not data | ||||||
| Evacuated: | - | Infected | - | ||||||
| - | |||||||||
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An isolated case of bird flu has been discovered in turkeys in Ivory Coast, the first since the last outbreak in the capital six months ago. "Results of samples ... from two turkeys that died November 9, made it possible to detect on November 17, an isolated case of avian flu caused by the H5N1 virus," the livestock production ministry said in a statement. The tests were carried out at a veterinary laboratory in Bingerville, near Abidjan. The two turkeys came from a livestock camp on a village on the outskirts of Abidjan. Health and sanitary measures have been put in place and people exposed to the birds are under medical supervision, the government said. The Ivorian government announced in early September the end of a ban on poultry imports that it imposed in May after bird flu was discovered near the economic capital Abidjan. After containing the outbreak in June, the government authorised the reopening of the city's poultry markets shut since May. To eradicate the virus, a large-scale disinfection of affected poultry farms, slaughter houses and the market itself was carried out. Some 2,000 domestic fowls were culled and authorities ordered 12 million doses of animal vaccine to halt the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
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Posted: November 27 2006 at 12:00am
Africa put on alert over Bird Flu
2006-11-27 09:15:21
By Anaclet Rwegayura, PST, Addis Ababa
African countries have been put on notice to be on high alert for possible out break of dreaded Avian Influenza, as the level of vulnerability was particularly high in areas where poultry breeding and marketing systems allow close contact between people and birds.
”Although avian flu came and now seems to have disappeared it would be wrong to assume a sense of security.
It is a lethal viral disease that can resurface any time,” said African Union (AU) Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Rosebud Kurwijila recently in Addis Ababa.
But as the risk of an outbreak was sounded the AU and the European Commission are organising the Fourth International Conference on Avian Influenza to be held on December 6 to 8, 2006 in the Malian capital, Bamako.
At least eight African countries early this year had their first experience of the epizootic, with 14 cases of human infections that resulted in six deaths reported in Egypt.
More than 1,300 cases of bird flu were reported on the continent with 95 per cent of them occurring in both Egypt and Nigeria.
The virus also infected bird species in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Niger and Sudan.
The forthcoming international conference, Kurwijila told PST, would be the opportunity for African governments to rally financial support for adequate preparedness to protect their people in case of an avian flu outbreak.
Previous international gatherings on the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) were held in Geneva, Beijing and Vienna.
According to experts, Africa has high risks of transmission of the virus from birds to humans, thus creating ideal conditions for a pandemic that could threaten the existence of many rural populations and rapidly spread to other parts of the world.
”Our focus is to prevent human infection,” said Kurwijila, adding that ministers responsible for health and for livestock from all over the world were expected to attend the Bamako conference, the fourth in the series of biannual conventions.
Other participants will be technical experts and civil society representatives who are expected to share their experience, vision and proposals with regard to controlling avian influenza in poultry as well as in rural communities.
Development partners supporting the AU in organizing the conference include the World Bank, the African Development Bank, US Agency for International Development, German Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and the French Cooperation.
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Posted: November 27 2006 at 12:07am
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Posted: November 27 2006 at 12:43am| Shadow wrote: Did you know More than 1,300 cases of bird flu were reported on the continent with 95 per cent of them occurring in both Egypt and Nigeria. I hope they're suggesting Feathered cases. I sure don't remember 1,300 outbreaks re:birds reported, does anyone? |
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Posted: November 27 2006 at 1:09amWish this could all be open and honest. All of us depending on what info is released and yet it looks like still after all the hunting and digging up you all do, we only get the half of it( if lucky).
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Posted: November 27 2006 at 1:33am| Shadow wrote: Wish this could all be open and honest. All of us depending on what info is released and yet it looks like still after all the hunting and digging up you all do, we only get the half of it( if lucky). |
seems still treading in the poo without a paddle ......
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Posted: November 29 2006 at 6:39pm| DESCRIPTION | |||
| At least 94 people have had to receive medical treatment after two incidents of suspected food poisoning in the Eastern and Western Cape, local media reported. According to the SABC, 85 people from the Darabe village outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape went down with stomach cramps and diarrhoea after eating at a World Aids Day function on Monday. They were taken to a local clinic and the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital. Under investigation were allegations that expired food was provided by one of the three caterers, said OR Tambo municipal manager Bonginkosi Njoli. Community leader Thabo Maqhekeni claimed the Zwelichumile clinic had had no medicines to treat the ill - some of them dehydrated. In a separate incident, nine people, including five children of between the age of six months and three years, were admitted to Tygerberg Hospital, in Cape Town, when they became sick on Monday night after eating chicken, reported the Cape Argus. They were among a group of people living in a tent in Ravensmead after being evicted from the Florida Primary School building in October. "They don't have refrigerators and the chicken they ate was bought on Friday and had stayed in a plastic bag in the tent for three days," Ravensmead Community Police Forum chairman Tommy Klein told the newspaper. Three of the adults had since been discharged. The others were "off the danger list," said Klein. |
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Posted: November 30 2006 at 5:06am// 27 Nov 2006
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Posted: December 04 2006 at 6:16pmA spreading darkness
Ali said he is heartened that these loose strands of people are trying to help.
But the massacre continues.
Just last week, according to the Associated Press, the Janjaweed raided a Darfurian village, forced several children into a thatched hut and set it on fire. Then the troops killed parents trying to rescue them.
Other reports say that the Janjaweed are spreading into Chad, keeping the genocide alive for yet another day.
Conflict and chaos in Darfur
• In an Arab-dominated country, Darfur's population is mostly black African. For years, there have been tensions between the mostly African farmers and the mostly Arab herders, who have competed for land.
• The current conflict began in 2003 when rebel groups started attacking government targets. In retaliation, the government launched a military and police campaign in Darfur. More than 2 million people have since fled their homes.
• Many spoke of government aircraft bombing villages, after which the Arab Janjaweed militia would ride in on camels and horses to slaughter, rape and steal. The government admits mobilizing "self-defense militias," but denies links to the Janjaweed and says that problems have been exaggerated. Those who fled the violence are now living in camps across Darfur. About 200,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad.
• Those living in camps depend on food aid from international donors, but aid agencies have warned that continuing violence is making it difficult, or impossible, for them to provide assistance.
• The African Union - a grouping of African states - has sent 7,000 soldiers to try to monitor a cease-fire, but the small force has been unable to end the violence. Britain and the United States have been pushing for the United Nations to take over the peacekeeping mission, and the African Union says it would be happy to stand aside. Sudan, however, will not allow a U.N. force on its territory.
Source: Bbc News
How to help
Two organizations working to end violence in Darfur:
• Divest Colorado: A group committed to divesting public entities from companies that operate in Sudan and contribute to the government's campaign of genocide. Current campaigns target the state of Colorado's pension fund (PERA) and the endowment at the University of Colorado.
Online: www.divestcolorado.org
• The Save Darfur Coalition: A group of more than 170 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations that work to raise awareness about the genocide and mobilize a unified response to the atrocities in the Darfur region.
Online: www.savedarfur.org
monterod@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5236
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Posted: December 04 2006 at 6:30pmIt is sickening that the world just stands by as things like this happen. Rawanda? We could make a long list. Interesting that the countries that don't get help from the western govts don't have oil or something similiar. If they had huge NG deposits, oil or huge coal fields the western world would be lining up to help.
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Posted: December 07 2006 at 2:30amThe report also said that governments might need to compensate not just farmers but also feed suppliers, workers and transporters.
Africa: Compensation Needed After Culling
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December 6, 2006
Posted to the web December 6, 2006
Bamako
To stop deadly strains of bird flu from mutating and infecting humans, millions of infected poultry will have to be culled as soon as an outbreak is reported and farmers must be compensated, agriculture specialists said on Wednesday.
"Our biggest challenge is the poor, small-scale farmers," Christopher Delgado, a World Bank agricultural economist, told IRIN at an international conference on bird flu that opened in Bamako in Wednesday.
More than a 100 countries and international organisations are represented at the three-day conference where experts exchange information and government ministers agree on policies and funding objectives. Delgado led an interagency task force that wrote a report for the conference on controling the spread of bird flu in developing countries through compensation.
He said the prospect of killing poor people's chickens en mass is "obscene". Poultry has become an increasingly important source of protein in developing countries with production growing annually by 5.9 percent per capita, compared to cereal production, which has only grown by 0.4 percent, according to Delgado.
"It's the little guy producing a few hundred chickens who will get wiped out unless compensation schemes are properly worked out," Delgado said.
The schemes must work quickly, he said. Experience has shown that culling must take place within 72 hours of a reported outbreak or else the disease will become far more difficult and expensive to contain.
If the compensation money is not readily available poor farmers are likely to do whatever they can to resist losing their livelihoods, Delgado said. Governments in poor countries generally have little extra money to spare and donor emergency funding is not always expeditious.
Creating institutions to disperse money quickly has already been a problem in developing countries where outbreaks have occurred, Delgado said. Compensation money has disappeared because of corruption, while even honest government officials have been wary of dispersing money quickly in case the claims were false.
The containment of outbreaks in Vietnam in 2003 and 2004 worked better but some officials said that the success was in part due to the government's authoritarian approach. An estimated 17 percent of the total poultry population was culled.
The Delgado-led report praised the work of the Vietnamese government but called for no more than 10 percent of a nation's poultry to be culled, and only five percent in the case of poor countries where people have few alternative sources of food. The remaining infected birds should be vaccinated, the report said.
The report also said that governments might need to compensate not just farmers but also feed suppliers, workers and transporters.
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But the first step that governments need to take in creating a good compensation scheme is often legislation, Delgado said.
"After all, this is an issue about the state destroying private property for the public good," he said.
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Posted: December 09 2006 at 12:36pmWhy you need to watch Africa re BF
GENEVA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Up to 1.8 million people are at risk from cholera, measles, malaria and other killer diseases following major floods across the Horn of Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.
The United Nations agency said it was deeply concerned about health conditions in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia after heavy rains in October and November damaged water and sanitation systems there and forced people into crowded living spaces.
At least 150 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced by the worst floods for years across the region.
Reports of diarrhoeal diseases, malaria, and acute respiratory infections have risen two- to three-fold, the WHO said, without giving figures. Cholera has been reported in the region and would spread if floods continue into early 2007, it added.
"We are already experiencing a serious situation where people are dying from diseases related to the water and sanitation situation. Malaria will become a very serious problem in the weeks to come," David Okello, the WHO's representative in Kenya, said in a statement.
Many health problems are endemic to the region, which is especially vulnerable because of its low vaccination coverage rates, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told journalists in Geneva. It also lacks laboratory facilities to quickly confirm the outbreak of epidemic-prone diseases.
The UNHCR refugee agency said that with the help of the U.S. military it would make an emergency airdrop of 240 tonnes of aid to help thousands of people in the flooded Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya.
The aid would include plastic sheets, blankets and mosquito nets for the camp's 130,000 mainly Somali refugees who have been cut off for weeks.
UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, said on Friday it urgently needed $24.2 million to provide emergency health, nutrition, water and other supplies to the Horn of Africa after the floods.
It also cited concern about tension between Somalia and Ethiopia which it said could trigger widespread displacement within Somalia and into flood-affected northeastern Kenya, further exacerbating health and humanitarian problems.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm
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