Schlagwort: outbreak news

On 7 October 2019, the National IHR Focal Point of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) notified WHO of one laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection.

The patient is a 44-year-old male non-national farmer from Al Ain city, Abu Dhabi region, UAE. He developed fever, runny nose, headache, vomiting, productive cough and shortness of breath on 25 September 2019, and was admitted to hospital on 29 September. A nasopharyngeal aspirate was collected and tested positive for MERS-CoV by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on 3 October at the Shiekh Khalifa Medical Center laboratory. The patient has underlying comorbidities including diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. He has a history of close contact with dromedary camels and sheep at nearby farms during the 14 days prior to the onset of symptoms. He has no history of recent travel and has not been involved in the slaughtering of animals. As of 14 October, the patient is in stable condition and is currently in an intensive care unit (ICU).

On 27 September 2019 , a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) has been confirmed in environmental samples in Philippines. The virus has been isolated from ten environmental samples, all genetically related, which were collected from one sewage collection site and its tributary pumping stations in Manila, between 1 July and 23 September 2019. This sewage collection site in the city of Manila has a catchment area of over 600,000 people.

Vaccine-derived polioviruses are rarely occurring forms of the poliovirus that have genetically changed from the attenuated (weakened) virus contained in oral polio vaccine. They only occur when the vaccine virus is allowed to pass from person to person for a long time, which can only happen in places with limited immunization coverage and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. Over time, as it is passed between more unimmunized people, it can regain the ability to cause disease. When the population is fully immunized with both oral polio vaccine and inactivated polio vaccine, this kind of transmission cannot take place. The gut immunity in people immunized with oral polio vaccine stops the virus from being passed on. Full immunization therefore protects against both vaccine-derived and wild polio viruses.

Health authorities in Lebanon are responding to an outbreak of measles. From 1 November 2018 through 12 October 2019, a total of 1,171 cases have been reported, of which 675 (57.6%) were laboratory confirmed, 8 (0.7%) epidemiologically linked cases, and 488 (41.7%) were clinically diagnosed. No associated deaths have been reported as of now.

Measles cases have been reported in all eight Lebanese governorates, with Aakar, Baalbek-El-Hermel, Bekaa North, and Mount Lebanon governorates most affected. Ninety percent of suspected measles cases were Lebanese nationals, while 10% were Syrians living in informal settlements and in residential areas. The cumulative incidence of measles among Lebanese was higher than that of Syrians (22.4 versus 11.1 per 100,000 population respectively).

On 8 September, Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) notified WHO about a cholera outbreak in four localities in the Blue Nile State (BNS), south-eastern Sudan, bordering Ethiopia and South Sudan. The first case was detected on 28 of August 2019.

From 28 August through 8 October 2019, a total of 247 suspected cholera cases, including 8 deaths (case fatality ratio: 3.5 %), have been reported from four localities in Blue Nile State including Al Roseries (99), Ad Damazin (52), Wad Almahi (3) and Baw (2), and five localities in Sennar State including Abu Hugar (71), Singa (4), Alsoky (13), Aldaly wa Almzmom (2) and Sennar (1) . One hundred fifty cases were female (61%), and 238 (94.4%) were over 5 years of age.

On 19 September 2019, the Philippines declared an outbreak of polio. Two cases have been reported to date, both caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2). Environmental samples taken from sewage in Manila on 13 August and a waterway in Davao on 22 August have also tested positive for VDPV2.

The first case was confirmed on 14 September following testing by the National Polio Laboratory at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The case-patient is a 3-year-old girl from Lanao del Sur in the southern Philippines. The virus isolated is genetically linked to VDPV2 previously isolated from environmental samples in Manila and Davao. This indicates that the virus is circulating.