Meningitis cases triple in two weeks in Niger, more than 400 dead -WHO
By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) – An outbreak of meningitis with "unprecedented features" is spreading rapidly in Niger, with a tripling of cases in the past two weeks, hundreds of deaths so far this year and vaccines in short supply, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Vaccines against this form of the disease were in short supply and the outbreak was of particular concern because it was affecting more than one million people in densely populated urban areas including the capital, Niamey, its website said. Meningitis is common across the "meningitis belt" from Senegal to Ethiopia in the dry season between December and June. A 2009 outbreak caused more than 80,000 cases, and more than 200,000 cases, including 20,000 deaths, in 1996–1997, WHO said.
