UN urges rapid response to Somali refugee measles outbreak

The United Nations voiced alarm at the plight of Somali refugees in south-eastern Ethiopia following an outbreak of suspected measles, and called for urgent action to assist an already vulnerable population.So far there have been 47 official cases and three deaths from suspected measles in the Kobe camp of 25,000 people over the past week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported. Other suspected cases have been reported in the other two refugee camps in the area, as well as in the transit centre where there are just over 15,000 refugees awaiting relocation to the newly-opened Hilaweyn camp. “This situation is alarming and we cannot afford to wait. We must act now, urgently and decisively, to arrest and turn around this situation,” said Moses Okello, UNHCR’s Representative in Ethiopia. UNHCR noted that the health of the refugees, who fled the famine in their homeland, is already fragile. “The mix of measles and...