Description of the situation
06 May 1997
Disease Outbreak Reported
Nearly 24,000 cases of louse-borne typhus have been reported since the beginning of the year in an outbreak which is the largest to occur in over 50 years. Cases have been reported in six provinces but most occurred in the rural part of Bujumbura. New foci have been detected in Mutambu (Bujumbura Province), particularly in the districts of Karama, Burina, Gifugwe, Gasi, Rutovu, Ntabo and Kabezi. During April, 216 new cases were reported in a prison in Gitega Province, 890 new cases in Muramvya Province and 137 new cases in Bujumbura bringing the total number of cases in 1997 to 23,889.
WHO has joined in teams investigating the foci in Gitega, Muramvya and Bujumbura in April. In Mutambu, the teams developed a case definition for diagnosis and instituted treatment with a single dose of doxycyline. A committee for control of the outbreak in the most affected localities has been established in Mutambu.