Over 100 die from malaria in Somalia

A Somalian official has appealed for help following the deaths of more than 115 people in the west of the country from malaria .

Pro-Ali Mahdi Muhammad radio on Saturday quoted a spokesman for the United Somali Congress-Peace Movement as saying there was an outbreak of cerebral malaria in all districts of the western Hiiraan Region, and that during this month alone, 115 people had died of the disease.

He said Jalalaqsi, Beled Weyne and Buulo Berde were the worst-hit districts.

"Saying that no relief agencies had come to the rescue of the victims, he appealed for urgent medical assistance for people affected by the disease.

He also appealed to traders to help the victims," the radio added.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.