At least 374 people have died of influenza over the last two months in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, according to a new toll released on Friday by health authorities.
On Wednesday officials said 283 people had died in the epidemic, and the day before the toll stood at 184.
On Friday, a total of 5 177 cases of influenza had been recorded, according to Lamina Arthur Rakotojanabelo, who heads the health ministry’s contagious diseases unit
Since Wednesday, a new outbreak was discovered in eastern Toamasina province, near the town of Marolambo, where 91 people died, he said.
The other epicentres are all in the southern Fiantarantsoa province. The Pasteur Institute in Madagascar has identified two distinct types of flu, a classic one with symptoms such as fever, headaches, and rhinitus, and more serious cases that lead to lung and neurological problems and infection.
Health Minister Andry Rasamindrakotroka announced on national radio that awareness campaigns would be held in health centres in all affected areas. He added that medication to treat and prevent the epidemic would be distributed.
A special World Health Organisation team is due in Madagascar on Tuesday. Children and the elderly have been especially hard hit by the outbreak.
The fact that the towns so far affected by the disease are all very remote and poor, with little or no telecommunications or road infrastructures, goes some way to explain why they have been so hard hit by the disease, medical officials have said. – Sapa-AFP