Health threat: Nine children dead in Zhob measles outbreak

CM Zehri orders dispatch of teams to distrcit, along with required medicines

QUETTA: Nine children infected by the recent measles outbreak in Zhob have died, the district’s vice chairman Molvi Jarullah confirmed on Saturday. The victims were aged between 6 and 7 years old. Four of them were girls.

The deaths came a day after five children were killed in the Awaran district due to the outbreak.

The disease has spiralled out of control in the different villages of Tangsar union council, Jarullah told The Express Tribune. The villages in the union council include Kakshai, Killi Bayanzai, Killi Zakriyazai.

The district administration has immediately dispatched a team of doctors to the affected areas, according to Zhob Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Azeem Kakar and District Health Officer Dr Muzaffar Shah. But neither of them was ready confirm the latest deaths until their teams return from the affected areas.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Khan Zehri has taken notice of the outbreak in Zhob district and asked the health department to present him with a report. Zehri has also tasked the health department officials to dispatch teams of doctors and paramedics, along with the required medicine, to the areas hit by the outbreak.

Provincial Health Secretary Noorul Haq Baloch on the CM’s directives dispatched teams from Quetta to the malaria-hit areas. Baloch also told the media that the health department is taking all possible measures to stop the outbreak. It is also in contact with the District Administration to point out and reach the affected areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2016.