Fever and skin sores spread among Myanmar’s Shwebo District IDPs as weather swings, aid group says

Mizzima

Children and older people among displaced residents in Shwebo District, Sagaing Region, have fevers and skin sores in recent days as the weather swings between hot and cold, according to local residents and an aid group helping the displaced.

“It is raining now. Because the heat and cold are imbalanced, many people are in poor health. People are experiencing fevers and skin sores,” an official from the S&C relief group told Mizzima on 10 November. He said temperatures have risen in the day with occasional rain while mornings and nights are cold, so there can be up to three kinds of weather in one day. Aid workers said weakened immunity from malnutrition adds to the illnesses.

Aid workers said medicine is hard to get to displaced people because the junta has restricted transport of medical supplies and goods into Shwebo District. Relief convoys were turned back at junta checkpoints during the August floods, and the district police chief threatened people who help flood victims, Mizzima and Progressive Voice reported at the time.

The NUG Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement said on 9 November that rain may continue in some areas from 9 to 11 November because of atmospheric instability in the northern Bay of Bengal and a possible low-pressure area in the Andaman Sea, with scattered rain likely in Tanintharyi, Kachin and Mon. It also warned that a strong El Niño may bring higher-than-normal temperatures, less rain, water shortage and fire hazard between October 2026 and February 2027, and told households to prepare. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on 8 October that a strong-to-very-strong El Niño is likely through early 2027.

The S&C group rebuilds homes destroyed in junta arson attacks and provides food, health and education help to displaced people.