This weekly bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 44 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:
Wildlife anthrax in Namibia
Cholera in Zambia
Plague in Madagascar
Dengue fever in Burkina Faso
Humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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:
The outbreak of anthrax in wildlife occurring in Namibia could have serious public health consequences in the country and the subregion, and therefore needs to be handled diligently using the One Health approach.
The ongoing outbreak of bubonic and pneumonic plague in Madagascar remains a challenge as it continues to attract global public health concerns.
The humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the cholera outbreak has continued to deteriorate and therefore demands particular global attention.