Schlagwort: who

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.

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 onset of symptoms between 20-27 November 2018. An additional 17 cases, all of whom were epidemiologically-linked to previously confirmed cases, experienced symptom onset between 7 December 2018 and 3 January 2019 (Figure 1). Potential human-to-human transmission is currently under investigation.

WHO is supporting the Ministry of Public Health of Madagascar to respond to an unusually large measles outbreak.

On 22 November 2018, the World Health Organization was informed of a cluster of suspected Yellow fever (YF) cases and deaths in Edo State, Nigeria.

As of October 2018, genetically-linked circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) isolates were detected in two cases from Haut-Katanga province (Mufunga-Sampwe district) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The first case was a 11-year old child who experienced onset of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) on 6 October. The second case was a 29-month old child who experienced onset of symptoms on 7 October, and is a known contact of the first case. The isolated viruses are a new emergence and unrelated to previously-detected cVDPV2s affecting the country. This is the fourth distinct outbreak of cVDPV2 detected in the country since June 2017. In total, 42 cVDPV2 cases have now been confirmed since detection of the first outbreak in June 2017, 20 cases of which were detected in 2018.

In February 2018, the government declared cVDPV2 to be a national public health emergency. On 26 July 2018, the Minister of Health, WHO Director General, the Regional Director for Africa, and provincial governors convened an urgent, high-level meeting and signed the ‘Kinshasa Declaration for Polio Eradication’. Provincial governors pledged to provide the necessary oversight, accountability and resources required to urgently improve the quality of the outbreak response being implemented across the country. It is imperative that the remaining operational gaps in outbreak response are urgently filled with the appropriate oversight and engagement.