Scorpions kill two North Darfur children

Two children died of scorpion stings in El Malha locality in North Darfur state on Sunday, where at least two of such cases reportedly arrive in the local hospital each day.

The children, Abul Gasim Ahmed and Mohamed Ahmed Mattar El Zayata, died in El Donki El Gharbi. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, an official in El Malha hospital said that there have been “too many cases of scorpion stings these days.

“The hospital has received seven cases, two of them have died. We receive scorpion sting cases at a rate of two to three each day. Sometimes they are cured in the hospital. But deaths occur because of poor access to the hospital over the area’s rugged roads.”

In June, three children and an adult succumbed to scorpion stings in El Koma locality. In July, two young girls suffered the same fate. “We suffer from a proliferation of scorpions every year during the rainy season,” a listener from the area told Radio Dabanga. People repeated their appeal to the federal and North Darfur Ministries of Health that anti-venom therapy be provided each year.

Poisonous desert scorpions are very widely spread in the desert areas of Darfur, in particular the localities El Malha and El Koma. Many people have died of scorpion stings, in spite of the availability of anti-venom.

Two children died of scorpion stings in El Malha locality in North Darfur state on Sunday, where at least two of such cases reportedly arrive in the local hospital each day.

The children, Abul Gasim Ahmed and Mohamed Ahmed Mattar El Zayata, died in El Donki El Gharbi. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, an official in El Malha hospital said that there have been “too many cases of scorpion stings these days.

“The hospital has received seven cases, two of them have died. We receive scorpion sting cases at a rate of two to three each day. Sometimes they are cured in the hospital. But deaths occur because of poor access to the hospital over the area’s rugged roads.”

In June, three children and an adult succumbed to scorpion stings in El Koma locality. In July, two young girls suffered the same fate. “We suffer from a proliferation of scorpions every year during the rainy season,” a listener from the area told Radio Dabanga. People repeated their appeal to the federal and North Darfur Ministries of Health that anti-venom therapy be provided each year.

Poisonous desert scorpions are very widely spread in the desert areas of Darfur, in particular the localities El Malha and El Koma. Many people have died of scorpion stings, in spite of the availability of anti-venom.