Eastern Chad is facing a double epidemic of meningitis and measles, the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday, as a large number of refugees pour in from Sudan.
The civil war in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary militia, has killed tens of thousands of people since April 2023 and displaced more than 12 million people, nearly one million of whom have fled to Chad, according to the United Nations.
Chad closed its border with Sudan in February following incursions by the FSR.
"The continued arrival of refugee families from Sudan, where outbreaks of measles and meningitis are ongoing," is fueling the surge in meningitis and measles cases in border areas of eastern Chad, MSF said.
"In the camps, overcrowding, limited access to water and healthcare, and malnutrition facilitate rapid transmission and increase the risk of serious complications, particularly in children under five."
The organization indicated that in Adre, near the border, measles cases had risen from 16 in January to 371 in March, with 161 cases recorded during the first two weeks of April.
Cases of meningitis have increased from 18 in January to 109 in March and to 101 in mid-April.
“Every day we see children arriving with severe measles, often complicated by pneumonia, who require emergency hospitalization,” said Isabelle Kavira, MSF’s medical operations manager in Adre.
"At the same time, the bed occupancy rate for meningitis is close to 100%, saturating our capacity and compromising the treatment of other illnesses."
The medical humanitarian organization indicated that in three weeks, the Chadian Ministry of Health, with the support of MSF, had conducted an emergency vaccination campaign against measles for more than 95,500 children and against meningitis for 337,800 people.
However, disruptions in the cold chain needed to store vaccine doses and gaps in routine vaccination "leave entire populations exposed," MSF warned.
Without a strengthening of systematic vaccination, "reactive campaigns alone will not be enough," she said.
Stretching nearly 1,400 kilometers and located in a desert region, the border between Chad and Sudan is porous and difficult to control.
