The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has declared a new Ebola outbreak in Kasai Province. It’s caused by the most severe strain: Zaire Ebola virus. This outbreak began with a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to hospital on August 20 and died five days later. Two health workers who treated her also became…
Johannesburg — The Minister of Health for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Samuel Roger Kamba, confirmed last week an outbreak of the highly infectious Zaire strain of Ebola virus disease in the country’s Central Kasai Province. He said 16 deaths and 28 suspected cases had been confirmed, including four suspected infections among health care workers. World…
The mosquito-borne virus has crossed the Taiwan Strait from southern China, where confirmed cases of chikungunya top 8,000. Taiwan has reported its first confirmed case of chikungunya fever, imported from China, where a historic outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus is under way. Chikungunya has swept through southern China in recent weeks, primarily in the manufacturing…
Some 80,000 children are estimated to be at high risk of cholera in West and Central Africa as the rainy season begins across the region, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. “The heavy rains, widespread flooding, and the high level of displacement are all fuelling the risk of cholera transmission and putting the…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a global health alert over a fast-moving outbreak of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease, that is sweeping across the Indian Ocean islands and making inroads into mainland Africa and South East Asia. Speaking at a media briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, Dr Diana Rojas Alvarez, WHO’s lead on…
Yaoundé, Cameroon — In a major step toward faster and more localized outbreak response, Africa CDC convened public health leaders from ten African countries in Yaoundé to co-develop a continental framework for decentralizing laboratory services. The four-day workshop, which began on 14 July, placed equitable access to diagnostics at the core of Africa’s epidemic preparedness…
Addis Ababa — A new study carried out by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) confirms the critical role international health teams have played in strengthening outbreak response across the African continent. The study also highlights the need for more strategic and…
