Meningitis hits Darfur refugee camps, says UN

The United Nations has declared a meningitis outbreak in Sudan's troubled Darfur area, a UN official said yesterday, threatening crowded camps where the potentially fatal disease can spread uncontrollably.

A total of 27 suspected cases and two deaths from meningitis had been reported in North Darfur state, UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri told reporters in Khartoum.

Four cases of bacterial meningitis - three in the same week - had been identified in Saraf Omra camp, one of the havens for some of the almost two million refugees to have fled fighting caused by a two-year-old Darfur rebellion.

"About 160,000 doses of meningitis trivalent vaccine have been requested from the World Health Organisation in Geneva," Achouri said.

Sudan's health minister warned last week he expected an epidemic of meningitis in Sudan and said the government had stockpiled vaccines to deal with it. Meningitis is an infection of the fluid in the spinal cord and fluid that surrounds the brain. Bacterial meningitis is the more severe form that can result in brain damage or death.

Thousands die every month from malnutrition or disease in Darfur's makeshift camps. There are no reliable figures for numbers of people killed in Darfur, where two main rebel groups took up arms in early 2003.

Also yesterday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan denounced at an Arab summit the "appalling" situation in Sudan's western Darfur region and called for funds to help civilians caught up in the conflict.

"The appalling situation in Darfur casts a long shadow over what has been accomplished in Naivasha," he said in a speech at the closing session, referring to the peace agreement that was reached between the Sudanese government and rebels in the south.

He urged Arab leaders to provide the UN with "urgent" funds for humanitarian operations in Darfur, where a rebel uprising which started two years ago has led to an estimated 180,000 dead and displaced more than 1.8 million people. "All of us must now urge the parties to negotiate in good faith and in a spirit of compromise," Annan said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Interior minister, Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, arrived in Khartoum late Tuesday on a three-day visit during which he will hold security talks with Sudanese officials.

Prince Nayef told reporters at the airport that his visit aimed at "upgrading" ties between his country and Sudan.

"All countries should join hands in fighting terrorism," the minister said, noting that Sudan "is among countries fighting terrorism."

Earlier Riyadh denied the Kingdom is engaged in a mediation effort to solve the Darfur conflict. But he stressed the Kingdom's support for Sudan efforts to achieve national reconciliation and restore peace in the country.