ReliefWeb

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 53 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:

Listeriosis in Namibia
Cholera in north-east Nigeria
Cholera in Malawi
Hepatitis E in Namibia
Lassa fever in Liberia
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 identification of the source of the listeriosis outbreak in South Africa and the confirmation of the disease in Namibia have caused various reactions in the region. While countries in the region should put in place adequate precautionary measures, these need to be done in line with provisions of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and in keeping with the recommended public health measures. The outbreak of cholera in Malawi continues. While the overall disease trend is declining, the case fatality rate remains high, with new deaths being registered. This outbreak needs to be contained and the fatalities prevented.