At least 160 residents in Maesu Taung village, Pekon Township, have fallen ill with flu-like symptoms as persistent monsoon rain and rising floodwaters continue to submerge southern Shan State. The illness, characterized by severe coughs, fever, and respiratory distress, has spread rapidly through households, hitting children and elderly displaced persons particularly hard.
Maesu Taung village—located 100 miles (160 km) south of the Shan State capital Taunggyi—hosts dozens of families who fled armed conflict between regime and resistance forces in neighbouring Karenni State.
Aid workers from the Pekon-based Tun Myanmar Donation Group reported that the outbreak began approximately a week ago before escalating across the village population. Relief teams operating in rural Pekon warn that local medical stockpiles are nearly exhausted due to the sudden surge in sickness.
“The illness started with runny noses and coughs before spreading rapidly through households, affecting almost the entire village. Medicine supplies are severely limited, and vulnerable groups like young children and the elderly are suffering the most,” a volunteer aid worker told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Rural areas of Pekon are under the administrative control of Karenni resistance forces, including the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and the People’s Defense Force (PDF). Ongoing military blockades and severe transport disruptions caused by flooded roadways have severely hindered the delivery of pharmaceuticals and basic medical supplies into resistance-controlled zones.
Widespread inundation across southern Shan State
Continuous torrential rainfall since early August has triggered widespread flooding across major urban centers and agricultural valleys throughout southern Shan State:
Residents in Kalaw, Aungban, Hopong, and Shwe Nyaung—townships located 12 to 30 miles (19 to 48 km) east and west of Taunggyi—report knee-deep water entering homes and commercial districts. Heavy runoff from mountain ranges has overflowed local creeks and drainage networks, damaging infrastructure and isolating outlying rural communities.
The health and humanitarian crisis in Shan State comes as Myanmar faces massive nationwide flooding. On August 10, the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) reported that at least 25 people have been killed and two remain missing, with more than 441,788 residents affected across 17 townships in Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, and Ayeyarwady regions.
With meteorologists forecasting continued heavy rainfall across Shan State and central Myanmar over the coming days, aid workers warn that sanitation conditions in crowded displacement camps will deteriorate further, threatening wider disease outbreaks if emergency medical assistance cannot reach isolated communities.
