ReliefWeb

There were no syndromes flagged this week.

Other updates:

Measles

• Tonga: As of 22 Jan 2020, 647 confirmed or suspected cases of measles have been reported in Tonga including 72 lab-confirmed cases. Of these, 569 (87.9%) cases occurred on Tongatapu and 66 (10.2 %) occurred on Vava'u Island. Cases have mostly presented with mild symptoms. Till date there have been twenty (20) hospitalisations (none since 25-December-2019), and all cases have been discharged. No deaths have been reported till date. [Source: Tonga MoH measles outbreak Sit Rep No. 15, dated 23 Jan 2020]

Dengue

• Dengue serotype-3 outbreak is ongoing in Majuro in the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI). As of 19 January, there have been 2,153 cases, including 878 laboratory confirmed cases since June 2019. There have been cases reported from 5 outer islands. The outbreak began on Ebeye island, where the last case was reported in November 2019. [Source: RMI Dengue outbreak Situation Report 19 January 2020]

Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

• As of 23 January 2020 a total of 581 confirmed cases have been reported for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) globally;

• Of the 581 cases reported, 571 cases were reported from China;

• Cases have been reported in Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Taipei Municipality, China, Macau Special Administrative Region, United States of America and the Republic of Korea; All had travel history to Wuhan;

• Of the 571 confirmed cases in China, 375 cases were confirmed from Hubei Province;

• Seventeen deaths have been reported (all from Hubei Province);

• The initial source of 2019-nCoV still remains unknown. However, it is clear the growing outbreak is no longer due to ongoing exposures at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan; as in the last one week, less than 15% of new cases reported having visited Huanan market.

• There is now more evidence that 2019-nCoV spreads from human- to- human and also across generations of cases. [Source: WHO]

• The meeting of the Emergency Committee, on 22 and 23 January 2020, convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus 2019 in the People's Republic of China has advised that the event did not constitute a Public Health Event of International Concern, at this time, but is a Public Health Emergency for the People's Republic of China. For details of the announcement please refer to link

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)

• Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): From 13 to 19 January 2020, 15 new confirmed cases of EVD were reported from North Kivu Province. The cases were reported from Beni (9 cases) and Mabalako (6 cases) Health Zones and all were linked to a confirmed case in a known chain of transmission. As of 20 January 2020, the cumulative number of EVD cases is 3,416 (3,297 confirmed, 119 probable) including 2,238 deaths (CFR 66%). On 17 July 2019, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Latest updates on the situation in DRC are available in the WHO EVD outbreak dashboard and AFRO EVD situation report. Regular updates are published in WHO's Disease Outbreak News.