Reports say a total number of 14 children from Manicaland Province, located in the eastern part of Zimbabwe, have succumbed to a measles outbreak which has also left dozens more infected.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government has also said it was carrying out a mass vaccination programme in the affected district.
Statistically, 72 children infected so far are from Mutasa district.
According to unconfirmed reports, most of the cases are among children from apostolic sects that shun modern medicine, News363 reported.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the vaccination programme in the affected Mutasa district will target children aged between six months and 15 years.
The latest developments come after UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) last month warned that disruptions to regular immunisation programmes, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, had created conditions ripe for measles outbreaks around the world.
While measles, which spreads through the air by respiratory droplets produced from coughing or sneezing, is a viral infection that is serious for small children, it is easily preventable by a vaccine.
There’s no treatment for measles infection.
Zwnews
