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 54 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:
- Rift Valley fever in Kenya
- Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Cholera in Uganda
- Cholera in north-east Nigeria
- Humanitarian crisis in Central African Republic.
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 issues and challenges include:
The Ministry of Health and WHO continue to closely monitor the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Over one month into the response, further spread of EVD has largely been contained. The situation in Bikoro and Wangata (Mbandaka city) health zones remains stable, while the situation in Iboko Health Zone is being closely observed. In spite of this progress, there is a need to continue with intense response interventions, without any complacency, until the outbreak is controlled.
Kenya is experiencing an outbreak of Rift Valley fever (RVF), with three counties being affected. This outbreak followed heavy rainfall and floods that occurred in several parts of the country, resulting in increased vector density and RVF virus activity. Recent risk assessment showed that eight counties have a high risk of RVF outbreak. The national authorities and partners in the country have responded promptly to the outbreak. While the country has past experience and ample capacity to respond to this outbreak, there is a need to accelerate implementation of effective control measures to avoid further propagation and likely spread of the disease within the subregion.