At least 70 children dead in Venezuela measles outbreak: NGO

At least 70 children from an indigenous tribe have died from an outbreak of measles in a remote jungle region of eastern Venezuela, a human rights group said Thursday. “The propagation started in early January and we are calling for a health alert,” said Armando Obdola, head of the Kape Kape NGO. Obdola said he had been recording the deaths in the state of Delta Amacuro, where children of the Warao indigenous community have been dying since the beginning of the year. “There are no medicines, and there’s nothing the doctors and nurses can do.” Latin America was declared free of measles in 2016, but the Pan American Health Organization last month reported a virulent outbreak in Venezuela. More…