200 meningitis cases during Haj

200 meningitis cases during Haj

RIYADH (AFP): Saudi Arabia's health ministry denied on
Wednesday there was an epidemic of meningitis in the kingdom
after nearly 200 people had been diagnosed with the illness since
the annual Muslim pilgrimage, or Haj, last month.

A ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency
said pilgrims coming from abroad who were carrying vaccination
papers but who had not been properly vaccinated had been
diagnosed with the illness.

"The number of cases registered up to the morning of April 11
is not quite 200," the ministry said, adding that "people coming
from abroad to perform the pilgrimage were the origin of the
microbe."

"The number of recorded cases ... cannot be considered an
epidemic," the ministry said.