#11,613
On Thursday in Myanmar's Mystery Outbreak, we looked at reports of an outbreak that had killed in excess of 30 people - mostly children - in a remote region of that country.
While `mystery' outbreaks can sometimes yield surprises, most of the time they end up being due to relatively common diseases, exacerbated by poverty, neglect, and lack of medical resources.
Overnight multiple media sources are reporting this deadly outbreak is due to measles, a childhood disease that still claims tens of thousands of lives each year (cite WHO).
This from the Bangkok Post:
Measles behind Myanmar outbreak
6 Aug 2016 at 11:33
WRITER: AFP
YANGON - Myanmar health officials have confirmed that a measles outbreak is behind the deaths of more than 30 people, mostly children, in a remote part of the country as authorities rush to treat victims.
The outbreak has struck the far corner of Myanmar's northern Sagaing region, a remote and mountainous area which borders eastern India and is populated by people from the Naga tribes.
(Continue . . . )
We are still awaiting word on another outbreak reported yesterday (see An Unusual Outbreak Report From The C.A.R.), and while its reported symptoms are dramatic, it too may end up being something less-than-exotic.
Diarrheal diseases, measles, chickenpox, pneumonia, and even influenza manage to kill millions of people every year - and the tragedy is - nearly all are preventable.
While we are always on the lookout for the next `bird flu' or `SARS', the toll taken by the usual subjects - mostly in low resource areas around the world - remains depressingly high.
