USAID provides assistance to Burkina Faso for outbreak of meningitis

The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will provide $450,000 through the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) for vaccines urgently needed to maintain control of an outbreak of meningitis.

On April 10, U.S. Ambassador Jeanine Jackson issued a disaster declaration.

Since January 2007, health authorities with the Government of Burkina Faso (GOBF) have reported more than 19,500 cases of meningitis, exceeding the total number of reported cases during the last major meningitis outbreak in the country in 1996. As of April 4, 1,337 people had died from the infectious disease.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 41 of 55 health districts require immediate assistance to treat meningitis and prevent further loss of life. The rapid increase in the number of reported cases has strained the capacity of the GOBF to respond.

USAID will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional support as needed.