WHO News

On 4 August 2017, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (NHFPC) notified WHO of one additional laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. View the full article

On 22 August 2017, the National IHR Focal Point for France notified a confirmed fatal case of yellow fever in a 43-year-old Brazilian woman in French Guiana, with an unknown vaccination status. View the full article

On 29 July 2017, the national IHR focal point of the United Arab Emirates reported one additional case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) View the full article

Local transmission of chikungunya has been confirmed in south eastern France, with four cases diagnosed in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region as of 23 August 2017. In addition, there is one probable case, and eight suspected cases. View the full article

Between 4 July and 12 August 2017, the national IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported 26 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection including six deaths, and two deaths among previously reported cases. View the full article

On 11, 14, and 21 July 2017, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (NHFPC) notified WHO of three individual laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. View the full article

On 6 May 2017, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Côte d’Ivoire notified World Health Organization (WHO) of a dengue fever outbreak in Abidjan, the capital city of Côte d’Ivoire. View the full article

Since the beginning of 2017, Kenya is experiencing an upsurge of cholera cases. The first cholera outbreak reported in 2017 was in Tana River County. The outbreak started on 10 October 2016 and was controlled by April 2017. View the full article

From 1 January to 7 July 2017, the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health (MoH) Sri Lanka reported 80 732 dengue fever cases, including 215 deaths. This is a 4.3 fold higher than the average number of cases for the same period between 2010 and 2016, and the monthly number of cases exceeds the mean plus three standard deviations for each of the past six months. Based on sentinel site surveillance for the past seven years the expected peak months of May to July coincides with the south-western monsoon which commences in late April. View the full article

On 19 June 2017, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (NHFPC) notified WHO of five additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. On 24 June 2017, the NHFPC notified WHO of 10 additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. On 30 June 2017, the NHFPC notified WHO of six additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. View the full article

On 7 June 2017, World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of a cholera outbreak in Kwara State, Nigeria, where the event currently remains localized. The first cases of acute watery diarrhoea were reported during the last week of April 2017 and a sharp increase in the number of cases and deaths has been observed since 1 May 2017. However, the number of new cases reported has shown a decline over the last four reporting weeks. View the full article

On 18 June 2017, the Nigerian Ministry of Health notified World Health Organization (WHO) of an outbreak of hepatitis E located in the north-east region of the country. The first case was detected on 3 May 2017 in Damasak, a locality at the border with the Republic of the Niger. Samples were collected from the case and sent to laboratory for confirmation. Cases were later reported in Ngala, one of the local government areas in Borno State that borders Cameroon. As of 2 July 2017, 146 confirmed and suspected cases were reported including 21 confirmed cases. View the full article

On 25 April 2017, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Liberia notified WHO and partners of a cluster of sudden deaths of unknown aetiology in Sinoe County. The event started on 23 April 2017, when an 11-year-old female had been admitted to hospital presenting with diarrhoea, vomiting, and mental confusion after attending the funeral of a religious leader on 22 April 2017. The child died within one hour of admission. View the full article

Between 24 June and 3 July 2017, the national IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported three additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, and two deaths among previously reported cases. View the full article

On 19 June 2017, the national IHR focal point of Lebanon reported one additional case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. View the full article

Between 16 and 23 June 2017, the national IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported seven additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including two deaths, and four deaths among previously reported cases. View the full article

On 2 June 2017, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (NHFPC) notified WHO of nine additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. On 9 June 2017, the NHFPC notified WHO of 12 additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in mainland China. View the full article

Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic fever illness that is known to be endemic in various West African countries including Nigeria. As of 9 June 2017, a total of 501 suspected cases including 104 deaths have been reported since the onset of the current Lassa fever outbreaks season in December 2016. Of the reported cases, 189 have been further classified, 175 laboratory-confirmed including 59 deaths and 14 probable cases (all dead). View the full article

Between 11 and 15 June 2017, the national IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported 14 additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection including one fatal case among previously reported cases. View the full article

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), two separate circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2s (cVDPV2s) have been confirmed. The first cVDPV2 strain has been isolated from two acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases from two districts in Haut-Lomami province, with onset of paralysis on 20 February and 8 March 2017. The second cVDPV2 strain has been isolated from Maniema province, from two AFP cases (with onset of paralysis on 18 April and 8 May 2017) and a healthy contact in the community. View the full article

Between 1 and 10 June 2017 the national IHR focal point of Saudi Arabia reported 35 additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection including three fatal cases and one death among previously reported cases (case number 5 in the Disease Outbreak News published on 6 June 2017). View the full article

A circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreak has been confirmed in the Deir Al Zour Governorate of the Syrian Arab Republic. There is evidence of genetic linkage among three isolates of type-2 vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPV2) isolated in the stool specimens of two acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases with dates of onset of paralysis on 5 March and 6 May 2017, and the contact specimen of an AFP case collected on 17 April 2017. Al Mayadeen was also the epi-centre of the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) outbreak in Syrian Arab Republic in 2013. Aggressive multi-country polio outbreak response effectively controlled the WPV1 outbreak and no WPV1 case has …

On 19 May 2017, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China (NHFPC) notified WHO of 17 additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. On 26 May 2017, the NHFPC notified WHO of nine additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in China. View the full article

Between June 2016 and mid-May 2017, an unusual increase in cases of hepatitis A affecting mainly men who have sex with men (MSM) has been reported by low endemicity countries in the European Region, and in the Americas (Chile and the United States of America). View the full article

Between 21 April and 29 May 2017, the National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported 25 additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection including six fatal cases. On 16 May 2017, the IHR NFP of the United Arab Emirates reported two (2) additional case of MERS-CoV. On 23 May 2017, the National IHR Focal Point of Qatar reported one additional case of MERS-CoV. View the full article