15 children die of ‘mysterious disease’ in Central Darfur

In Deleig camp for the displaced in Wadi Salih locality, Central Darfur, 15 children and 47 donkeys died during the past week as a result of a mysterious infection. On Friday a group of boys from the camp were assaulted by Janjaweed when they were collecting firewood. A sheikh from the camp reported to Radio Dabanga that 15 children died last week, three of them at the hospital of Deleig, and 13 at their homes inside the camp; 47 donkeys died too. The hospital receives at least ten children a day. The sheikh added that many displaced resort to traditional healing because of the high costs of treatment. The expenses of seeing a doctor, medical examination, and medicines range from SDG200 ($35) to SDG300 ($52). He appealed to the federal and Central Darfur state health authorities and humanitarian organisations to speed up intervention, to save the patients and contain the disease. On 12 February Radio Dabanga reported that about 75 percent of the children in Deleig camp were infected with the mysterious disease that affects children below the age of 12 years, and donkeys. The symptoms are coughing, vomiting, inflammation in the genitals and sleeplessness. Firewood collectors assaulted Militiamen subjected a number of displaced boys of the Deleig camp to beating and lashing.A father of one of the victims told Radio Dabanga that on Friday morning Janjaweed on horses ambushed the boys as they went out to collect firewood from Jebel Kayuga, 3 km east of the camp. They beat them with whips causing them varying injuries. Two of the boys were seriously wounded. File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid Related: Central Darfur children stricken by mystery disease (12 February 2014) Darfur pupils’ mystery disease ‘hysteria’: Sudanese Health Ministry (9 February 2014) North Darfur ‘mystery disease’ diagnosed as paralysis (4 February 2014)