THOUSANDS DIE IN MENINGITIS OUTBREAK AND TEN OF THOUSANDS INFECTED April 28, 2001

Discovery News reports: “At least 3,500 people across Africa have died so far in the current outbreak of meningitis that has hit the continent, according to a report released by the International Red Cross on Wednesday. Another 38,000 cases of the virulent disease have also been confirmed. A statement issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the outbreak of the disease was the worst in the last decade and was responsible for a serious shortage of vaccine worldwide.
The statement also explained that tens of thousands of cases of the infection had been identified, and ''many more are likely to have gone unreported.’ Dr. Hakan Sandbladh, the federation's emergency health coordinator, said, ‘There is definitely a crisis. New outbreaks are being regularly reported, and in some places it seems to be spreading like wildfire.’ Meningitis affects the membranes of the brain and the spinal cord, and is deadly unless treated in time….”