WHO News

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is continuing with moderate intensity. Katwa and Butembo remain the major health zones of concern, while small clusters continue simultaneously in some geographically dispersed locations. During the last 21 days (13 February – 5 March 2019), 76 new confirmed and probable cases have been reported from 31 health areas within nine health zones (Figure 1), including: Katwa (44), Butembo (17), Mandima (6), Masereka (3), Kalunguta (2), Beni (1), Vuhovi (1), Kyondo (1), and Rwampara (1). The emerging cluster in Mandima health zone is occurring in a previously unaffected village, with five of the recent cases epidemiologically linked and the…

On 12 February 2019, the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) received a report regarding surgical site infections caused by antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa after invasive procedures performed in Tijuana, Mexico. View the full article

On 12 February 2019, the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) received a report regarding surgical site infections caused by antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa after invasive procedures performed in Tijuana, Mexico. View the full article

Between 12 and 18 February 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of Oman reported eight additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. Four cases were reported from South Sharquia governorate, and four cases were reported from North Batinah governorate where a MERS-CoV cluster was recently identified. Details of the additional eight cases can be found in the attached excel sheet. Since 27 January 2019, a total of 13 MERS cases were reported from Oman, including nine from North Batinah (five cases were previously reported in the Disease outbreak News 11 February 2019) and four from South Sharquia. View the full article

Between 12 and 18 February 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of Oman reported eight additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. Four cases were reported from South Sharquia governorate, and four cases were reported from North Batinah governorate where a MERS-CoV cluster was recently identified. Details of the additional eight cases can be found in the attached excel sheet. Since 27 January 2019, a total of 13 MERS cases were reported from Oman, including nine from North Batinah (five cases were previously reported in the Disease outbreak News 11 February 2019) and four from South Sharquia. View the full article

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is continuing with moderate intensity. Katwa and Butembo remain the major health zones of concern, while simultaneously, small clusters continue to occur in various geographically dispersed locations. During the last 21 days (6 – 26 February 2019), 77 new cases have been reported from 33 health areas within nine health zones (Figure 1), including: Katwa (45), Butembo (19), Vuhovi (4), Kyondo (3), Kalunguta (2), Oicha (1), Beni (1), Mandima (1), and Rwampara (1). Although there are decreasing trends in case incidence (Figure 2), the high proportion of community deaths reported among confirmed cases and relatively low number of new c…

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is continuing with moderate intensity. Katwa and Butembo remain the major health zones of concern, while simultaneously, small clusters continue to occur in various geographically dispersed locations. During the last 21 days (6 – 26 February 2019), 77 new cases have been reported from 33 health areas within nine health zones (Figure 1), including: Katwa (45), Butembo (19), Vuhovi (4), Kyondo (3), Kalunguta (2), Oicha (1), Beni (1), Mandima (1), and Rwampara (1). Although there are decreasing trends in case incidence (Figure 2), the high proportion of community deaths reported among confirmed cases and relatively low number of new c…

On 12 February, a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) has been confirmed in Papua province, Indonesia. Two genetically-linked VDPV1 viruses were isolated from a child with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with onset of paralysis on 27 November 2018 and in a healthy community contact, a child whose stool sample was collected on 24 January 2019. The location of this healthy child, with the VDPV isolation, is in a remote village, approximately 3–4 km away from the AFP case with onset of paralysis on 27 November 2018. Even though this province shares a border with Papua New Guinea, this outbreak is not linked to the cVDPV1 outbreak currently affecting its neig…

On 12 February, a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) has been confirmed in Papua province, Indonesia. Two genetically-linked VDPV1 viruses were isolated from a child with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with onset of paralysis on 27 November 2018 and in a healthy community contact, a child whose stool sample was collected on 24 January 2019. The location of this healthy child, with the VDPV isolation, is in a remote village, approximately 3–4 km away from the AFP case with onset of paralysis on 27 November 2018. Even though this province shares a border with Papua New Guinea, this outbreak is not linked to the cVDPV1 outbreak currently affecting its neig…

On 6 February 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified WHO of an ongoing outbreak of MERS-CoV infection in Wadi Aldwasir city and one of its hospitals (referred to as Hospital A). Between 29 January and 13 February 2019, 39 cases of MERS-CoV infection, including four deaths, were reported. At the time of writing, this outbreak remains ongoing. Human-to-human transmission has occurred between the index patient and health care workers, patients in the emergency department and intensive care unit (ICU) of Hospital A, and from patients to household contacts. As of 13 February, nine health care workers have been infected. Descriptions of the o…

On 6 February 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified WHO of an ongoing outbreak of MERS-CoV infection in Wadi Aldwasir city and one of its hospitals (referred to as Hospital A). Between 29 January and 13 February 2019, 39 cases of MERS-CoV infection, including four deaths, were reported. At the time of writing, this outbreak remains ongoing. Human-to-human transmission has occurred between the index patient and health care workers, patients in the emergency department and intensive care unit (ICU) of Hospital A, and from patients to household contacts. As of 13 February, nine health care workers have been infected. Descriptions of the o…

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is continuing with moderate intensity. Katwa and Butembo remain the major health zones of concern, while simultaneously, small clusters continue to occur in various geographically dispersed locations. During the last 21 days (30 January – 19 February 2019), 79 new cases have been reported from 40 health areas within 12 health zones (Figure 1), including: Katwa (46), Butembo (15), Kyondo (4), Vuhovi (4), Kalunguta (2), Oicha (2), Biena (1), Mabalako (1), Manguredjipa (1), Masereka (1), Mutwanga (1), and Rwampara (1).1 No new cases have been reported from the Beni in the last three weeks. This is a significant achievement given the p…

On 26 June 2018, an outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) was declared in Papua New Guinea following laboratory confirmation of cVDPV1 isolation in two healthy community contacts of the index case. Since the declaration, a total of 26 confirmed cVDPV1 cases have been reported in the following nine provinces: Eastern Highlands (six), Enga (five), East Sepik (four), Madang (three), Morobe (three), Jiwaka (two), Gulf (one), Southern Highlands (one), and National Capital District (NCD) (one). The last laboratory-confirmed case reported having experienced the onset of paralysis in late October 2018. Environmental surveillance continues on a bimonth…

From 1 January through 31 January 2019, the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported fourteen additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including three deaths. View the full article

From 1 January through 10 February 2019, 327 cases of Lassa fever (324 confirmed cases and three probable cases) with 72 deaths (case fatality ratio = 22%) have been reported across 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with the majority of cases being reported from Edo (108) and Ondo (103) States. View the full article

Despite slightly fewer cases reported during the past week (Figure 1), current epidemiological indicators highlight that the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak is continuing with moderate intensity. Katwa and Butembo remain the major health zones of concern, while simultaneously, small clusters continue to occur in various geographically dispersed regions. During the last 21 days (23 January – 12 February 2019), 97 new cases have been reported from 13 health zones (Figure 2), including: Katwa (59), Butembo (12), Beni (7), Kyondo (4), Oicha (4), Vuhovi (3), Biena (2), Kalunguta (2), Komanda (1), Manguredjipa (1), Mabalako (1), Masereka (1), and Mutwanga (1).1 The recent ca…

Brazil is currently in the seasonal period for yellow fever, which occurs from December through May. The expansion of the historical area of yellow fever transmission to areas in the south-east of the country in areas along the Atlantic coast previously considered risk-free led to two waves of transmission (Figure 1). One during the 2016–2017 seasonal period, with 778 human cases, including 262 deaths, and another during the 2017–2018 seasonal period, with 1376 human cases, including 483 deaths. From December 2018 through January 2019, 361 confirmed human cases, including eight deaths, have been reported in 11 municipalities of two states of Brazil. In the southern par…

From 27 January and 31 January 2019, the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point of Oman reported five cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. View the full article

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues with relatively high numbers of cases reported in recent weeks (Figure 1), and some encouraging signs. Katwa and Butembo health zones remain the epicentres of the outbreak, reporting 71% of cases in the last three weeks, with smaller clusters continuing to occur concurrently across a geographically dispersed area. As of 5 February, 789 EVD cases1 (735 confirmed and 54 probable) have been reported, including 488 deaths (overall case fatality ratio: 62%). Thus far, 267 people have been discharged from Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs) and enrolled in a dedicated monitoring and support programme. …

On 3 January 2019, the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point of Jamaica notified WHO of an increase in dengue cases in Jamaica. From 1 January though 21 January 2019, 339 suspected and confirmed cases including six deaths were reported (Figure 1). In 2018, a total of 986 suspected and confirmed cases of dengue including 13 deaths have been reported. The number of reported dengue cases in 2018 was 4.5 times higher than that reported in 2017 (215 cases including six deaths). Cases reported to date for 2019 exceed the epidemic threshold (Figure 2). View the full article

The Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO and partners continue to respond to an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD), despite persistent challenges around security and community mistrust impacting response measures. View the full article

On 7 January 2019, the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland notified WHO about two cases of extensive drug resistant (XDR) Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection diagnosed in the United Kingdom. View the full article

On 17 January 2019, two genetically-linked circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) isolates were reported from Molumbo district, Zambezia province, Mozambique. The first one, was from an acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) case with onset of paralysis on 21 October 2018, a six-year old girl with no history of vaccination, and the second isolate was from a community contact of the first case, a child aged one-year old. View the full article

The Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO and partners have continued to face challenges in the containment and control of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of reported cases increased during recent weeks, most notably from the Katwa health zone where response teams have faced pockets of community mistrust. The outbreak has also extended southwards to Kayina health zone, a high security risk area. Teams are working actively to build community trust and scale up response activities around these new clusters. Figure 1 shows that as of 22 January 2019, there have been a total of 713 EVD cases1 (664 confirmed and 49 probabl…

On 19 December 2018, the Argentinian Ministry of Health and Social Development issued an epidemiological alert regarding an increase in cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in Epuyén, Chubut Province. Between 28 October 2018 – 20 January of 2019, a total of 29 laboratory-confirmed cases of HPS, including 11 deaths have been reported in Epuyén, Chubut Province. Epuyén has a population of approximately 2 000 persons, and Chubut Province is located in Patagonia in southern Argentina. The index case had environmental exposure prior to symptom onset on 2 November, and subsequently attended a party on 3 November. Six cases who also attended the party experienced the o…