WHO News

On 21 May 2018, the regional polio reference laboratory reported to WHO the isolation of vaccine derived poliovirus type 1 (VDPV1) from a child with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The onset of the child’s paralysis occurred on 24 April 2018. View the full article

On 16 May 2018, Japan’s National International Health Regulations Focal Point (NFP) notified WHO of an ongoing outbreak of measles in Japan. On 20 March 2018, a traveller from overseas was diagnosed with measles in Okinawa prefecture, and thereafter additional cases of measles were reported from across the prefecture and later from other prefectures. In light of the situation, on 11 and 26 April 2018, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) circulated two alert notices. The national trend in notifications and reports of new measles cases from Okinawa Prefecture have both declined in recent weeks (onset date of the most recent case in Okinawa was 10 May). Okinawa…

Disease outbreak news for ebola in DRC. View the full article

On 8 June 2018, the Ministry of Health (MoH) for Kenya confirmed an outbreak of Rift Valley fever. The first patient was admitted to a hospital in Wajir County in north-eastern Kenya on 2 June with fever, body weakness, and bleeding from the gums and mouth. The patient reported having consumed meat from a sick animal; the patient died the same day. On 4 June, two relatives of the index patient were admitted. Blood samples were collected and sent to the Kenya Medical Research Institute, one of which was confirmed positive for Rift Valley fever on 6 June. As of 16 June, a total of 26 human cases have been reported from Wajir (24 cases) and Marsabit (2 cases) counties, inclu…

Disease news outbreak for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Saudi Arabia. View the full article

Disease outbreak news for cholera in Cameroon. View the full article

Disease news outbreak for ebola in DRC. View the full article

Following the notification of an Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 5 May 2018, WHO conducted a formal rapid risk assessment which determined that the public risk is high at the regional level. View the full article

Disease news outbreak for measles in Brazil. View the full article

Since the last Disease Outbreak News on 30 May 2018, two additional cases have been laboratory confirmed for Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; both cases were reported from Iboko Health Zone. Recently available information has enabled the classification of some cases to be updated. View the full article

In response to the ongoing outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO in collaboration with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and other partners, has developed a comprehensive strategic response plan for points of entry. The aim of the plan is to avoid the spread of the disease to other provinces or at the international level. The plan includes mapping strategic points of entry and the locations of areas where travellers congregate and interact with the local population, and therefore are at risk of Ebola virus diseas…

From 30 April through 30 May 2018, a total of 16 confirmed and suspected cases (one confirmed and 15 suspected cases) were reported to the Directorate of Control of Epidemic and Pandemic diseases (DLMEP). These cases were located in five districts of Cameroon: Njikwa Health district (n=6 suspected, n=1 confirmed) Akwaya Health District (n=6 suspected), Biyem-Assi Health District (n=1 suspected), Bertoua Health District (n=1 suspected), and Fotokol Health district (n=1 suspected). On 14 May, one of the 16 cases tested positive by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from the Centre Pasteur du Cameroun (CPC). The case was located in Njikwa Health Distr…

On 19 May 2018, three deaths due to Nipah virus infection were reported in Kozhikode District, Kerala State, India. The three deaths occurred in a family cluster and a fourth death was subsequently reported in a health care worker who was involved in treatment of the family in the local hospital. Laboratory testing of throat swabs, urine and blood samples collected from four suspected patients has been conducted by the National Institute of Virology in Pune; three of the four reported deaths were confirmed positive for Nipah virus (NiV) by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and IgM Elisa for NiV. View the full article

Since the last Disease Outbreak News on 23 May 2018, six additional cases have been laboratory confirmed for Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Recently available information has enabled the classification of some cases to be updated. View the full article

Disease news outbreak for mers in uae. View the full article

Disease outbreak news for ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. View the full article

In response to the ongoing outbreak of Ebola in Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO is working with the Ministry of Health, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UNICEF and other partners including the Ministry of Health of Guinea, to conduct vaccination against Ebola for people at high risk of infection in affected health zones. View the full article

In Somalia, a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3 (cVDPV3) has been confirmed, following isolation of this virus from four environmental samples collected between 8-22 March from two environmental sites in Waberi District, Banadir Province (Mogadishu). View the full article

Since the publication of the first Disease Outbreak News on the Ebola outbreak in Equateur province, Democratic Republic of the Congo on 10 May 2018, an additional seven suspected cases have been notified by the country’s Ministry of Health. Importantly, since the last update, cases have been reviewed and reclassified, and some discarded. View the full article

On 8 May 2018, WHO was notified by the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo of two confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease occurring in Bikoro health zone, Equateur province. View the full article

Disease outbreak news for Listeriosis in South Africa update. View the full article

On 16 March 2018, WHO was notified by the International Health Regulations (2005) National Focal Point for France through the European Commission (EC) Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) about a sharp increase in the number of dengue cases reported in Réunion, France since the beginning of 2018. View the full article

From 1 January through 15 April 2018, 1849 suspected cases have been reported from 21 states (Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Federal Capital Territory, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Rivers, and Taraba). Of these, 413 patients were confirmed with Lassa fever, nine were classified as probable 1422 tested negative and were classified as non-cases and for the five remaining suspect cases laboratory results are pending. Among the 413 confirmed and the nine probable Lassa fever cases, 114 deaths were reported (case fatality rate for confirmed cases is 25.4% and for confirmed and probable cases combined is 27%)…

On 2 March 2018, the Australian National Focal Point (NFP) notified WHO of an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infection (listeriosis) associated with the consumption of rockmelons (cantaloupe) from a single grower. View the full article

The ongoing cholera outbreak in Somalia started in December 2017. As of 18 March 2018, a total of 1613 cholera cases, including nine deaths (case fatality rate = 0.6 %), have been reported from four regions: Hiraan, Banadir, Lower Juba and Middle Shabelle. View the full article