Christian Message Boards: Death Toll Tops 700 in Madagascar Flu Epidemic

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Posted by Kindgo (Member # 2) on :

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Aug. 27
— ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - The death toll in a flu epidemic on the giant Indian Ocean island of Madagascar has surged to more than 700, with reported cases rising above 18,000, health officials said on Tuesday.

The illness has swept across five out of six provinces on the island -- which is larger than France -- since it first appeared in June, hitting malnourished villagers the hardest.

"The province of Antananarivo has also been affected by the severe flu, which has hit other regions in Madagascar since June, killing more than 700 people as of Monday," Samuel Andriamparany, a top government health official, told reporters.

Health officials say the illness -- known as "raporapo" on the island -- claims 95 percent of its victims from among impoverished peasants with no access to modern medical care.

The U.N.'s Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) said on August 13 that 444 had died and a further 13,300 cases had been reported since the illness appeared.

Many of the victims are children suffering from a poor diet on the island off southeast Africa, one of the world's poorest countries.

Madagascar has only just emerged from six months of political crisis, which devastated the already shaky economy on the island of 16 million, plunging many into deeper poverty.

The WHO had earlier said the number of deaths had surged in the past two weeks to 671, with reported cases nearly doubling to 22,646.

The agency said the worst hit region was Fianarantsoa in the southeast. Government officials say that only the northern province of Antsiranana has been spared.

But a WHO spokeswoman said that some of the sharp rise in recent days could simply reflect better monitoring of the situation by health officials.

"The explanation...could be improved surveillance between the ministry and the WHO," spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters.

A WHO team of experts is in Madagascar advising the Health Ministry on measures needed to contain the epidemic.

Samples taken from victims of the illness have shown it to be Type A influenza. The infectious illness causes severe headaches, followed by neck and chest pains.