ReliefWeb

CHF 137,131 has been allocated from the IFRC's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support Madagascar Red Cross Society in delivering immediate support to approximately 33,125 beneficiaries.Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are Encouraged.

Summary: The epidemic alert on clustered cases of deaths and disease strongly suspected to be pneumonic plague occurred since the month of September 2013 in a remote village of Beranimbo, a rural municipality of Ampatakamaroreny, located 130km from the capital district of Mandritsara, which is itself located 945km north of the capital Antananarivo. The alert was issued by the Ministry of Public Health. The outbreak of the epidemic began 5 October, 2013 with five deaths clustered in the village of Beranimbo and spreading to surrounding villages and towns from November. This situation created panic in the population, causing massive displacement to other villages or to other neighbouring districts such as Soanierana Ivongo in the Analanjirofo region on the east coast. A dozen cases were later reported in the district of Soanierana Ivongo according to official sources.

Along with this, in the Region Vatovavy Fitovinany in the Greater South East, fatal cases of pneumonic plague are also reported in the district of Ikongo.

Finally, two other outbreaks of bubonic plague this time, are reported in the central highlands of the health district of Tsiroanomandidy in the north-western part of the Province of Antananarivo, with 3 cases including 1 death, as well as in the Ikalamavony health district (Province of Fianarantsoa), with 5 cases with 3 deaths.

Volunteers led by Regional Coordinators of the Malagasy Red Cross conducted active case finding as well as activities to boost the prevention of disease in areas that are likely to be affected by the epidemic. Social mobilization activities in the fight against the spread of the plague will be the main actions and increased surveillance to prevent human to human transmission. In areas where deaths have occurred, coordination and planning is done by the local staff and the Ministry of Health because of the extremely dangerous nature of the contamination of plague. Interventions will be coordinated and supervised by the CRM volunteering doctors and doctors from the Ministry of Health whose main roles are to detect and transfer suspects cases of the plague to health facilities. Several evaluations are needed for the identification of the needs of the displaced people that are fleeing the epidemic especially in the District of Mandritsara and Soanierana Ivongo.

This operation is expected to be implemented over four months, and will therefore be completed by 31 May 2014; a Final Report will be made available three months after the end of the operation by 31 August 2014.