Overview
This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 46 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key ongoing events, including:
Plague in Madagascar
Marburg virus disease in Uganda
Cholera in Tanzania
Cholera in north-east Nigeria
Necrotizing cellulitis/fasciitis in São Tomé and Príncipe
Humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.
For each of these events, a brief description followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.
A table is provided at the end of the bulletin with information on all new and ongoing public health events currently being monitored in the region, as well as events that have recently been closed.
Major challenges include:
While progress has been made to control the outbreak of plague in Madagascar, the possibility of future flare-ups cannot be ruled out.
Sustaining ongoing response operations remains critical, calling for additional funding support.
The continuous propagation of cholera in Tanzania mainland, going on for over two years, remains a concern. This cholera outbreak needs to be brought to a halt.