Suspected diphtheria cases in Rohingya refugee camps reach 550: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of suspected diphtheria cases in the Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh refugee camps for Rohingya who have fled their homes in neighboring Myanmar, has quintupled since last week, UN relief officials said on Monday.

"Diphtheria is rapidly spreading in camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, where Rohingya refugees have settled," according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). "As of (Monday), some 550 suspected cases and nine fatalities had been reported."

Just last Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there were more than 110 cases with six fatalities.

Farhan Haq, deputy chief UN spokesman, said the WHO was working with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and would begin a vaccine campaign on Tuesday, "with more than 900,000 doses of vaccine expected to arrive in Cox's Bazar in the next few days."

"The Rohingya refugee population is extremely vulnerable to disease outbreaks due to low vaccination coverage in Myanmar's Rakhine State and overcrowded, unsanitary living conditions in refugee sites in Bangladesh," he said.

The total number of Rohingya refugees since late August reached about 646,000 people last week, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

A flood of Rohingya refugees was triggered by a deadly attack by rebel militia on Myanmar security posts in northern Rakhine State, across the border from Myanmar. Government forces and vigilante groups then allegedly reacted, forcing Rohingya out of their homes.

The Myanmar government has said its troops only pursued suspected Rohingya rebels and did not attack and burn any Rohingya villages or force civilians to flee. Enditem