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Wuhan unexplained pneumonia epidemic will spread to other regions? Official response 2020-01-09 11:51:32 Source: China Network RTHK reporter: Regarding pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, which has been determined to be a new type of coronavirus, what will each department do during the Spring Festival Transport to avoid the spread of immunity to other mainland cities and other countries? Thank you. Wanxiang East: As of now, none of the passengers mentioned by civil aviation have found the situation of pneumonia patients you mentioned. But we will keep a close watch and strengthen our links with the health sector. In addition, the planes of all transportation airlines in China are equipped with emergency medical kits, health and epidemic prevention kits, and the medical emergency response equipment at the airport is also very complete, so it can ensure effective ground-to-air connection for medical emergencies. In the event of a sudden illness while flying, airlines and airports can initiate emergency measures in time to ensure that passengers can be treated accordingly. Thank you! Li Wenxin: The railway department has paid close attention to the relevant situation. At present, the railway station cars have not received relevant epidemic reports. We will pay close attention to the prevention and control of transportation in accordance with national regulations, resolutely prevent the spread of the epidemic through railway stations, and do our best to maintain the health and safety of passengers. Thank you. Wang Yang: During the Spring Festival, there will be a large number of people gathering, and infectious diseases are easy to occur. The emergence of the epidemic may cause everyone to worry about traveling during the Spring Festival, especially in areas where people are concentrated and concentrated. Arrangement and deployment will focus on the disinfection monitoring and protection measures in areas with a large number of passenger trips, including transportation hubs, passenger stations, and cargo hub factories and stations. Winter is also a season of frequent flu. I would like to remind everyone to take personal protective measures to ensure that they can go home healthily and safely. Thank you. http://news.163.com/20/0109/11/F2ER7TQU0001899O.html

Infectious disease expert Lu Hongzhou: no need to panic about the emergence of new coronavirus January 9, 2020 10:31 Look at the news KNEWS 　　Original title: Infectious disease expert Lu Hongzhou: New coronavirus appears without panic 　　In the past few days, the epidemic of unexplained viral pneumonia in Wuhan has caught the attention of the whole society. After eight patients with unexplained viral pneumonia were cured and discharged from Wuhan, the good news came again on the morning of January 9 that the "true murder" of unexplained viral pneumonia in Wuhan had been found. According to authoritative media reports, the expert group believes that the pathogen of this unexplained case of viral pneumonia was initially determined to be a new type of coronavirus. 　　Professor Lu Hongzhou, an infectious disease expert and secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center affiliated to Fudan University, said that coronavirus infections are very common around the world, and the public need not panic. Coronaviruses are a group of pathogens that cause respiratory and intestinal diseases. There are many regularly arranged protrusions on the surface of this type of virus particle, and the entire virus particle is like an emperor's crown, hence the name "coronavirus". 　　So far, there are six known human coronaviruses. Among them, HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-HKU1 are mostly self-limiting after infection with the four coronaviruses. They are mainly caused by "common cold" symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, and sneezing. Neurological complications. However, both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV coronaviruses are highly pathogenic and can cause fatal pneumonia. 　　The two coronaviruses have similar clinical features. They can have obvious systemic symptoms such as fever, headache, myalgia, and fatigue. In some cases, they can also start with gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, which can quickly progress to shortness of breath and progressive breathing. The manifestation of failure can also be accompanied by damage to other organ functions such as acute kidney injury. After coronavirus infection, treatment is mainly symptomatic and supportive. 　　Combining with the new coronavirus appearing in Wuhan this time, Lu Hongzhou believes that it is necessary to strengthen the understanding of pneumonia of unknown origin, while satisfying: fever (underarm temperature ≥38 ° C); imaging characteristics of pneumonia; reduced or normal white blood cell count in early stages, or lymph Cell sorting counts were reduced; after a standardized antibacterial drug treatment for 3-5 days did not significantly improve the disease or showed progressive worsening of the four clinical features, it is necessary to consider unexplained pneumonia. 　　If unexplained pneumonia is found, for a certain degree of time-space congregation of respiratory infectious diseases, the hospital should strengthen clinical triage to quickly find and report cases of unexplained pneumonia, and isolate and observe and treat suspected or confirmed cases; medical treatment Institutions and public health places should be adequately ventilated and clean, and a sustainable infection prevention and control infrastructure should be established; when diagnosing and treating related cases that may or may be diagnosed, or when conducting clinical testing and scientific research on related specimens, appropriate levels should be adopted Protective measures to further reduce the risk of transmission. 　　Once patients with unexplained pneumonia have symptoms of severe respiratory infections, Lu Hongzhou reminded to adopt symptomatic supportive treatment such as ventilator mechanical ventilation and external membrane oxygenation (ECMO) according to the condition. When taking the drug, Lu Hongzhou suggested that broad-spectrum antiviral drugs still have no exact effect on coronavirus, and neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir is effective against influenza, but has no effect on coronavirus. 　　In addition, in order to prevent viral pneumonia, it is necessary to enhance the awareness of health and health, to strengthen exercise, work regularly, and improve their immunity. Even if the weather is cold, you should pay attention to ventilation in your room and office. Ventilation can reduce the amount of virus in the air and thus reduce infection. Family or office colleagues are sick during the epidemic season. Others should pay attention to isolation to reduce the chance of infection. Viral pneumonia In the flu season, try to get to crowded places as little as possible; after going home by public transportation such as subways and buses, change your coat, wash your hands, and wash your nose. Lu Hongzhou suggested that the entire population is generally susceptible to influenza, and drug prevention cannot replace vaccination. Influenza vaccination is the most effective way to prevent influenza virus infection and its serious complications. http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2020-01-09/doc-iihnzahk2978652.shtml

Experts claim that the new coronavirus is unidentified in Wuhan 2020-01-09 09:45:59 Source: Xinhuanet Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 9 (Reporter Qu Ting) A few days ago, on the issue of the pathogenic identification of unexplained viral pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan, the reporter interviewed Xu Jianguo, the leader of the preliminary assessment of pathogenic test results and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He said that the expert group believed that the pathogen of this unexplained case of viral pneumonia was initially determined to be a new coronavirus. 　　Question 1: At present, what progress has been made in the pathogenic identification of unexplained viral pneumonia in Wuhan? 　　Xu Jianguo: As of 21:00 on January 7, 2020, a new coronavirus was detected in the laboratory, and the entire genome sequence of the virus was obtained. A total of 15 positive results of the new coronavirus were detected by nucleic acid detection methods. From 1 positive patient The virus was isolated from the samples and showed a typical coronavirus appearance under an electron microscope. 　　The expert group believes that the pathogen of this unexplained case of viral pneumonia was initially identified as a new type of coronavirus. 　　Question 2: How is the pathogen identification carried out? 　　Xu Jianguo: The tissue laboratory used genomic sequencing, nucleic acid detection, virus isolation and other methods to perform pathogenic tests on patients' alveolar lavage fluid, throat swabs, blood and other samples. 　　Question 3: What procedures are needed to identify the pathogen? 　　Xu Jianguo: To confirm the cause of an epidemic disease, usually the following points must be met: (1) Suspicious pathogens must be found in patients, and pathogenic nucleic acids can be detected in clinical samples of patients; (2) From clinical samples of patients The pathogen can be successfully isolated; (3) The isolated pathogen can cause the same disease symptoms after infecting the host animal. The patient's serum antibody titer during the recovery period increased four-fold, which can help identify the pathogen. 　　Finding the nucleic acid, genomic and antibody evidence of the pathogen from the patient can be done in a short time. Scientific research, such as pathogen isolation and pathogenicity identification, can take weeks. The development of specific drugs and vaccines against a new pathogen may take years to complete. 　　Question 4: What is the next step? 　　Xu Jianguo: The expert group believes that the pathogen of this unexplained case of viral pneumonia is initially determined as a new type of coronavirus. The next step is to conduct expert research and judgement in combination with etiology research, epidemiological investigation and clinical manifestations. 　　Question 5: What is a coronavirus? 　　Xu Jianguo: Coronavirus is a type of pathogen that mainly causes respiratory and intestinal diseases. There are many regularly arranged protrusions on the surface of this type of virus particle, and the entire virus particle is like an emperor's crown, hence the name "coronavirus". In addition to humans, coronaviruses can infect many mammals such as pigs, cattle, cats, dogs, marten, camels, bats, mice, hedgehogs, and various birds. So far, there are six known human coronaviruses. Four of these coronaviruses are more common in the population and are less pathogenic, generally causing only minor respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold. The other two coronaviruses—Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, also known as SARS Coronavirus and MERS Coronavirus, can cause severe respiratory diseases. The new coronavirus that caused the epidemic is different from the human coronaviruses that have been discovered, and further understanding of the virus requires further scientific research. http://www.xinhuanet.com/2020-01/09/c_1125438971.htm

Wuhan unidentified virus pneumonia outbreak pathogen identified as new coronavirus 01-09 08:14Author: Shi Yingchun Source: CCTV News152 comments Abstract: [Preliminary identification of unexplained viral pneumonia pathogen in Wuhan as a new coronavirus] On the progress of the pathogenic identification of unexplained viral pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan, the reporter learned today from the expert group for preliminary assessment of pathogen detection results that as of 2020 At 21:00 on January 7th, a new type of coronavirus was detected in the laboratory, and the whole genome sequence of the virus was obtained. A total of 15 cases of positive results of the new type of coronavirus were detected by the nucleic acid detection method. The virus was isolated from a positive patient sample. Virus, showing typical coronavirus morphology under electron microscope. (CCTV News) 　　Regarding the progress of the pathogenic identification of unexplained viral pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan, the reporter learned from the expert group of preliminary assessment of pathogenic test results today that as of 21:00 on January 7, 2020, a new type of coronavirus was detected in the laboratory and obtained The whole genome sequence of the virus was detected by nucleic acid detection method in a total of 15 cases of new coronavirus positive results. The virus was isolated from a positive patient sample and showed typical coronavirus appearance under electron microscope. 　　The expert group believes that the pathogen of this unexplained case of viral pneumonia was initially identified as a new type of coronavirus. 　　Tissue laboratories use genomic sequencing, nucleic acid detection, virus isolation, and other methods to etiologically detect samples from patients with alveolar lavage fluid, throat swabs, and blood. 　　The expert group stated that the identification of the cause of an epidemic usually requires the following: 　　(1) Suspicious pathogens must be found in patients, and pathogenic nucleic acids can be detected in clinical samples of patients; 　　(2) The pathogen can be successfully isolated from the clinical sample of the patient; 　　(3) Infecting host animals with isolated pathogens can cause the same disease symptoms. The patient's serum antibody titer during the recovery period increased four-fold, which can help identify the pathogen. 　　Finding the nucleic acid, genomic and antibody evidence of the pathogen from the patient can be done in a short time. Scientific research, such as pathogen isolation and pathogenicity identification, can take weeks. The development of specific drugs and vaccines against a new pathogen may take years to complete. The expert group believes that the pathogen of this unexplained case of viral pneumonia is initially determined as a new type of coronavirus. The next step is to conduct expert research and judgement in combination with pathogenic research, epidemiological investigation and clinical manifestations. 　　Coronaviruses are a group of pathogens that cause respiratory and intestinal diseases. There are many regularly arranged protrusions on the surface of this type of virus particle, and the entire virus particle is like an emperor's crown, hence the name "coronavirus". In addition to humans, coronaviruses can infect many mammals such as pigs, cattle, cats, dogs, marten, camels, bats, mice, hedgehogs, and various birds. So far, there are six known human coronaviruses. Four of these coronaviruses are more common in the population and are less pathogenic, generally causing only minor respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold. The other two coronaviruses—Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, also known as SARS Coronavirus and MERS Coronavirus, can cause severe respiratory diseases. The new coronavirus that caused the epidemic is different from the human coronaviruses that have been discovered, and further understanding of the virus requires further scientific research. https://emwap.eastmoney.com/news/info/detail/202001091351309088

Twelve new confirmed cases were reported from 1 to 7 January in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces. View the full article

Outbreak of Pneumonia of Unknown Etiology (PUE) in Wuhan, China Distributed via the CDC Health Alert Network January 8, 2020, 1615 ET (04:15 PM ET) CDCHAN-00424 Summary The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring a reported cluster of pneumonia of unknown etiology (PUE) with possible epidemiologic links to a large wholesale fish and live animal market in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. An outbreak investigation by local officials is ongoing in China; the World Health Organization (WHO) is the lead international public health agency. Currently, there are no known U.S. cases nor have cases been reported in countries other than China. CDC has established an Incident Management Structure to optimize domestic and international coordination if additional public health actions are required. This HAN Advisory informs state and local health departments and health care providers about this outbreak and requests that health care providers ask patients with severe respiratory disease about travel history to Wuhan City. Wuhan City is a major transportation hub about 700 miles south of Beijing with a population of more than 11 million people. Background According to a report from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, as of January 5, 2020, the national authorities in China have reported 59 patients with PUE to WHO. The patients had symptom onset dates from December 12 through December 29, 2019. Patients involved in the cluster reportedly have had fever, dyspnea, and bilateral lung infiltrates on chest radiograph. Of the 59 cases, seven are critically ill, and the remaining patients are in stable condition. No deaths have been reported and no health care providers have been reported to be ill. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission has not reported human-to-human transmission. Reports indicate that some of the patients were vendors at the Wuhan South China Seafood City (South China Seafood Wholesale Market) where, in addition to seafood, chickens, bats, marmots, and other wild animals are sold, suggesting a possible zoonotic origin to the outbreak. The market has been closed for cleaning and disinfection. Local authorities have reported negative laboratory test results for seasonal influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) among patients associated with this cluster. Additional laboratory testing is ongoing to determine the source of the outbreak. Health authorities are monitoring more than 150 contacts of patients for illness. CDC has issued a level 1 travel notice (“practice usual precautions”) for this destination. (https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/watch/pneumonia-china). On January 5, 2020, WHO posted an update on this situation, including an early risk assessment, which is available at: https://www.who.int/csr/don/05-january-2020-pneumonia-of-unkown-cause-china/en/external icon. Recommendations for Health Care Providers Providers should consider pneumonia related to the cluster for patients with severe respiratory symptoms who traveled to Wuhan since December 1, 2019 and had onset of illness within two weeks of returning, and who do not have another known diagnosis that would explain their illness. Providers should notify infection control personnel and local and state health departments immediately if any patients meet these criteria. State health departments should notify CDC after identifying a case under investigation by calling CDC’s Emergency Operations Center at (770) 488-7100. Multiple respiratory tract specimens should be collected from persons with infections suspected to be associated with this cluster, including nasopharyngeal, nasal, and throat swabs. Patients with severe respiratory disease also should have lower respiratory tract specimens collected, if possible. Consider saving urine, stool, serum, and respiratory pathology specimens if available. Although the etiology and transmissibility have yet to be determined, and to date, no human-to-human transmission has been reported and no health care providers have been reported ill, CDC currently recommends a cautious approach to symptomatic patients with a history of travel to Wuhan City. Such patients should be asked to wear a surgical mask as soon as they are identified and be evaluated in a private room with the door closed. Personnel entering the room to evaluate the patient should use contact precautions and wear an N95 disposable facepiece respirator. For patients admitted for inpatient care, contact and airborne isolation precautions, in addition to standard precautions, are recommended until further information becomes available. For additional information see: https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/isolation/index.html. This guidance will be updated as more information becomes available. For More Information 1-800-CDC-INFO https://www.cdc.gov/cdc-info/index.html CDC’s Emergency Operations Center: 770-488-7100 https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00424.asp

On 29 December 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported one laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to WHO. The case is a 74-year-old male national who owns a camel farm located in Al Ain City, Abu Dhabi region in UAE where he is living. He developed fever, cough and sore throat on 8 December 2019 and was admitted to hospital on 10 December, then transferred to ICU on 16 December. A nasopharyngeal aspirate was collected and tested positive for MERS-CoV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (UpE and Orf1a genes) on 16 December by the Shiekh Khalifa Medical Center laboratory. He has underlying comorbidities including hyperkalemia, diabetes mellitus with diabetic nephropathy, heart disease, asthma and hypertension. He has a history of close contact with dromedary camels and sheep at his farm in the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. He has no history of recent travel and has not been involved in slaughtering animals. Currently, the patient is in stable condition in intensive care unit isolation. View the full article

On 31 December 2019, the WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. As of 3 January 2020, a total of 44 patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology have been reported to WHO by the national authorities in China. Of the 44 cases reported, 11 are severely ill, while the remaining 33 patients are in stable condition. According to media reports, the concerned market in Wuhan was closed on 1 January 2020 for environmental sanitation and disinfection. The causal agent has not yet been identified or confirmed. On 1 January 2020, WHO requested further information from national authorities to assess the risk. View the full article

Since the last disease outbreak news published on 19 December 2019, 29 new confirmed cases were reported from 18 to 31 December in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu province. The confirmed cases in this week were reported from eight health areas in four health zones: Mabalako (62%, n=18), Butembo (14%, n=4), Kalunguta (17%, n=5), and Katwa (7%, n=2). Three of the four cases reported in Butembo in the past fourteen days are linked to a transmission chain of more than 50 people that originated in Aloya Health Area, Mabalako Health Zone. One individual classified as a relapse case of EVD, infected several other individuals within the family and through nosocomial transmission (for more information, please see the disease outbreak news published on 19 December 2019). In Kalunguta Health Zone, the five cases reported between 24 and 28 December 2019, are a distinct epidemiologically linked chain of transmission, although the source of exposure is currently under investigation. In the past 21 days (11 December to 31 December), 40 confirmed cases were reported from 10 health areas within five neighbouring active health zones in North Kivu province (Figure 2, Table 1): Mabalako (68%, n=27), Butembo (13%, n=5), Kalunguta (13%, n=5), Katwa (5%, n=2), and Biena (3%, n=1). The majority of the cases (75%, n=30) are linked to known chains of transmission. View the full article

From 3 November through 8 December 2019, three laboratory confirmed cases of yellow fever including two deaths (case fatality rate = 67%) were detected through the national surveillance system in Mali. The first case-patient was a 15-year-old girl from a village in Kati district, Koulikoro region, Mali. The second and third case were in 17 and 25-year-old men, nationals from Cote d'Ivoire, living in the district of Bouguimi, Sikasso region, Mali. All three cases tested positive for yellow fever by Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on 3 December 2019 at Institute Pasteur Dakar (IPD). The first case was not vaccinated against yellow fever and had no travel history outside of Kati District. Meanwhile, the vaccination status for the other two cases was unknown. Additionally, there were nine suspected and three probable cases reported from the Bouguimi district, including three deaths among the probable cases. View the full article

On 5 December 2019, the National IHR Focal Point for Qatar reported three laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) infection to WHO. The first case-patient (case #1) is a 67-year-old female from Doha, Qatar. She developed fever, cough, shortness of breath and headache on 23 November 2019, and presented to a hospital on 25 November. On 27 November, she went to the same hospital for follow up. However, on 28 November, her condition worsened and she was admitted to the hospital. A nasopharyngeal swab was collected on 28 November and tested positive for MERS-CoV by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on 29 November. The patient had underlying medical conditions, and passed away on 12 December 2019. The source of her infection is under investigation. The patient had neither a history of contact with dromedary camels nor recent travel. Follow up and screening of seven household contacts and 40 healthcare worker contacts is ongoing and two asymptomatic secondary cases have been identified so far. View the full article

Eleven new confirmed cases were reported from 11 to 17 December in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. View the full article

From 1 through 30 November 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported 10 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) infection and one associated deaths. The cases were reported from Riyadh (4), Madinah (2), Al-Qassim (1), Assir (1), Taif (1), and Makkah (1) regions. The link below provides details of the 10 reported cases: View the full article

Nigeria is responding to successive yellow fever outbreaks, with nearly a three-fold increase in number of confirmed cases in 2019 compared to 2018, suggesting intensification of yellow fever virus transmission. Additionally, there have been cases reported in parts of the country that have confirmed cases for the first time since the outbreak started in September 2017. From 1 January through 10 December 2019, a total of 4,189 suspected yellow fever cases were reported from 604 of 774 Local Government Area (LGAs) across all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria. Of the total 3,547 samples taken, 207 tested positive for yellow fever by Immunoglobulin M (IgM) in Nigerian network laboratories. In addition, 197 samples from 19 states were confirmed positive using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The case fatality rate for all cases (including suspected, probable and confirmed) is 5.1%, and 12.2% for confirmed cases. View the full article

A resurgence of measles cases has been seen in all WHO Regions since 2017. In the Asia Pacific Region, outbreaks of measles have been reported from countries where measles has previously been eliminated (including Australia, Cambodia, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea) and in endemic countries with high incidence rates (including Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam). View the full article

On 1 May 2019, in response to increasing numbers of dengue fever cases in Pakistan and India, health authorities in Afghanistan heightened monitoring for the disease. As part of this increased vigilance, the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) in Kabul began to broaden its investigation for possible cases of the disease, such as reviewing samples that tested negative for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) to see if they were positive for dengue. The laboratory performed differential diagnosis and tests on 40 samples that had tested negative for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). Between 1 October to 4 December 2019, 14 out of the 40 samples tested positive for dengue fever by the CPHL (13 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and one by Immunoglobulin M (IgM)). Of the 14 confirmed cases of dengue fever, seven were presumably autochthonous as the persons had no travel history to dengue endemic countries. One of the seven autochthonous cases died due to hemorrhagic fever. Six other cases had traveled to dengue endemic countries, including four people to Pakistan and two people to India. One case had an unknown travel history. Out of the 14 cases, 12 (86%) were males, between the age of 21 to 55 years old. View the full article

Twenty-seven new confirmed cases were reported from 4 to 10 December in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. View the full article

Nine new confirmed cases were reported from 27 November to 3 December in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The confirmed cases in this week were reported from Mandima (56%, n=5) and Mabalako (44%, n=4) Health Zones. In the past two weeks, violence, widespread civil unrest, and targeted attacks have severely disrupted the Ebola response and restricted access to affected communities in multiple locations. As a result, several key activities of the response experienced diminished performance, including the volume of reported and investigated alerts and the number of contacts registered and followed (Figure 1, Figure 2). The volume of alerts from health zones affected by insecurity is lower than usual, and this has led to an overall reduction in the average number of alerts reported in the last seven days. Of the 3346 alerts reported, 96% were investigated within 24 hours. View the full article

From 1 through 31 October 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported 15 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) infection and six associated deaths. The cases were reported from Assir (5 cases), Al-Qassim (3 cases), Riyadh (6 cases), and Taif (1 case) regions. Of the 15 cases reported, four were linked to two separate clusters. Cluster 1 involved a patient (case #1) and a health care worker (case #5) in Assir region. Cluster 2 involved a patient (case #12) and a health care worker (case #15) in Riyadh region. The link below provides details of the 15 reported cases: View the full article

Outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) have been reported in several countries in West Africa, central Africa and Horn of Africa (for more information, please see the disease outbreak news published on 31 July 2019). This report provides a situational update on current cVDPV2 outbreaks in newly affected countries in Africa. No wild poliovirus has been detected on the continent since September 2016. In West Africa and the Lake Chad sub-region, a cVDPV2 outbreak originating from Jigawa state, Nigeria, continues to spread. Following detection of this outbreak in Cameroon, Ghana, Benin and the Republic of Niger earlier this year and in 2018, the virus has now been detected in Chad, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire. View the full article

On 6 November 2019, the Spanish authorities reported a likely sexual transmission of dengue between two men who have sex with men (MSM) in the municipality of Madrid in central Spain. View the full article

Sierra Leone health officials, supported by WHO, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other partners, are responding to an outbreak of Lassa fever. On 20 November 2019, WHO was informed by The Netherlands’ International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point of one imported case of Lassa fever from Sierra Leone. The patient was a male doctor, a Dutch national who worked in a rural Masanga hospital in Tonkolili district, Northern province in Sierra Leone. View the full article

Six new confirmed cases were reported between 20 to 26 November in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. View the full article

Through national disease surveillance, an outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type-2 (cVDPV2) has been confirmed in Pakistan in 2019. Between 7 July and 3 November 2019, 11 children have been paralysed from cVDPV2 in Pakistan – four in Diamir district, Gilgit-Baltistan province, three in Kohistan, two in Torghar and one in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, and one in Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad. The median age for these cases was 22 months ranging from 8 to 66 months . The virus was also isolated in stool samples from two contacts of one patient from Diamir, one contact of one patient from Torghar, as well as from 16 healthy children from Diamir, Kohistan and Rawalpindi districts. In addition, the virus was also isolated in seven environmental samples collected between 21 August and 25 October 2019 in Rawalpindi and Lahore districts, Punjab province; Diamir and Gilgit districts, Gilgit-Baltistan province; and Site Town, district West, Karachi, Sindh province. View the full article

Many countries around the world are experiencing measles outbreaks. As of 5 November 2019, there have been 413,308 confirmed cases reported to WHO through official monthly reporting by 187 Member States in 2019. Data Source: IVB Database - This is surveillance data, hence for the last month(s), the data may be incomplete. View the full article