Measles breaks out in quake-hit areas
Bureau Report

MUZAFFARABAD—Health authorities in quake-hit region were racing to control an outbreak of measles at a camp for earthquake survivors on Sunday after a 10-month old baby died of the disease, a doctor said.
With a harsh winter setting in, fears are growing that sickness could kill cold and poorly nourished survivors but the United Nations says there has been no spike in the mortality rate since the weather deteriorated last week. “Nearly a dozen children have been admitted to a field hospital ... from a nearby camp,” said a doctor who visited the clinic in Hattian Bala, 45 km (30 miles) southeast of Muzaffarabad, the hard-hit capital of Pakistani Kashmir.
The doctor, who works for an international agency but declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak on the issue, said a 10-month old boy had died of measles on Thursday. Ministry of Health officials were not immediately available for comment. The UN Children’s Fund has vaccinated hundreds of thousands of people since the quake struck but agency pediatrician Sajjad Gillani, confirming the outbreak at the camp, said some children might have been missed in the drive.
“The disease has possibly broken out because that particular camp might not have been covered during the immunization campaign,” Gillani said. The October 8 earthquake killed more than 73,000 people and left about three million homeless. Government authorities and aid agencies are racing to try to get adequate shelter and food to survivors, many of whom have chosen to stay and try to rebuild ruined mountain homes rather than head down to tent camps in valleys.
The United Nations has received, or been pledged, less than half the more than $500 million (288 million pounds) it is seeking for a six-month emergency operation and agencies say they will have to curtail their work unless they get more help. The head of the UN food agency said at the weekend it had enough food to keep hundreds of thousands of survivors fed through the winter but it badly needs money to keep air operations running. A World Health Organization official said his agency would run out of medical supplies in two months if did not get more funding.
“We’ll be needing more and more medicines to prevent deaths from pneumonia and possible outbreaks,” said Khalif Bile, director of the WHO mission in Pakistan. “If we don’t get the money the health care of the population will not be as comprehensive as we would like”.
A teenage boy was killed in mysterious circumstances at the residence of his friend with a bullet injury in his head at Basti Lal, Khangarh, police said. Khangarh police have taken Allah Bachaya, the friend of sixteen-year old deceased Muhammad Nawaz, into its custody to ascertain whether it was a murder or suicide.
Deceased Nawaz and Bachaya, both employed at a shop in Khangarh, were friends. Nawaz went to his friend’s home as per routine and slept there. Bachaya’s wife saw him injured with a bullet injury in his head when she went to the parlour to give him breakfast Saturday morning. He was rushed to the rural health centre Khangarh where he died.
Investigating officer Munir Ahmad Khan said, apparently it appears to be a murder but added that motive is yet to be ascertained. He, however, did not rule out the possibility of a suicide incident. Further investigations is underway.