ProMED: Ebola, MERS, Rift Valley fever and Lassa outbreaks continue

Epidemics can occur anywhere, at any time.

We publish regular updates, produced by Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED), on outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases to keep you informed on the frequency and impact of our priority diseases.

ProMED is the largest publicly-available system conducting global reporting of infectious diseases outbreaks, with ProMED staff, moderators and team members scanning for, reviewing and posting information relating to global health security from official health reports and media articles.

The below post contains information from health reports, news articles, and academic papers relating to our priority diseases, compiled together by ProMED. Content below may be edited from original ProMED posts for style and length.

These posts provide an overview of disease outbreak activity over the past several weeks. For the latest information relating to outbreaks of infectious diseases, please visit the ProMED website.

Ebola

Location

Democratic Republic of Congo
 

Outbreak Update

Thu 7 November 2019. WHO/AFRO Ebola dashboard, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa:

3286 cases (including 0 new confirmed case), of which 3168 confirmed/ 118 probable cases, 531 suspected cases/ 51 cases in the last 21 days/ 1063 survivors/ 2191 deaths/ 5.7K contacts being followed out of 6.6K identified
 

Outbreak Response

Fri 7 Nov 2019. CMRE (Comite Multisectoriel de la Riposte a la maladie a virus Ebola):

79 / 100 bikers were vaccinated, as part of the launch of the biker vaccination in Beni in the Kazabimyole health area;

Since vaccination began on 8 Aug 2018, 248 004 people have been vaccinated with the VSV-ZEBOV vaccine, manufactured by the pharmaceutical group Merck.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, the total number of travelers checked (temperature measurement) at the sanitary control points is 114 221 518.

To date, a total of 111 entry points (PoE) and sanitary control points (PoCs) have been set up in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri to protect the country's major cities and prevent the spread of the epidemic in neighboring countries.

See the full ProMED post
 

Lassa Fever

Location

Nigeria
 

Outbreak Update

The National Centre for Disease Control on Wednesday [6 Nov 2019] said 113 suspected cases of Lassa fever were reported in 12 council areas in 9 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The NCDC said on its website that 13 of the cases were confirmed, with 2 deaths recorded.

The agency said the national Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group would continue to coordinate response activities at all levels. It added that the centre, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Environment and World Health Organisation, had conducted Lassa fever national environmental response in Edo and Ondo states.

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Rift Valley fever

Location

Sudan, and preventative measures in Egypt
 

Outbreak Update

UN OCHA report, 7 November 2019:

According to a new update report, "Rift Valley Fever Sudan" by UN OCHA, published Thursday 7 Nov 2019, 31 new human cases, including 2 deaths, have been added since 30 Oct 2019 in the 6 affected states in Sudan. The total number of human RVF cases, since the onset of the disease on 28 Sep 2019 until 4 Nov 2019, is 279, including 9 deaths. The case fatality rate is 3.2%.

Albayan Weekly newspaper, 7 November 2019:

Director of the Egyptian Animal Health Research Institute, Dr. Mumtaz Shaheen, said that a mobile laboratory equipped with a veterinary and technical team has been installed in Aswan to address the Rift Valley fever issue related to the outbreak of the disease in Sudan. From the results of analysis and prompt reporting of sampling results, appropriate decisions can be made to protect Egypt's livestock.

Dr. Mona Mehrez, deputy minister of Agriculture [for Animal, Fish and Poultry Resources], has pointed out the importance of coordination with the governorate to carry out pesticide spraying against flies and mosquitoes, in particular addressing ponds, swamps, and barns inside various villages and remote areas and markets, especially in foci and areas where there is livestock.

Disinfectants and insecticides should be systematically applied in river transport vessels intended for passengers as well as cargo barges operating between Halfa ports in Sudan and the Aswan High Dam as one of the measures to prevent epidemic diseases, including Rift Valley fever, foot-and-mouth disease, and dengue fever.

See the full ProMED post

 

MERS

Location

Saudi Arabia
 

Outbreak Update

Since the last update (1 November 2019) there have been a total of 4 newly confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection reported by Saudi Arabia and 2 outcome reports.

Information on newly confirmed cases (4)

[1]
Date of confirmation report: 3 Nov 2019
MOH case No: 19-1967
49-year-old female in Wadi Aldwasir city, Riyadh region
Contact with camels: Unknown
Case classification: Secondary
Current status: Active

[2]
Date of confirmation report: 4 Nov 2019
MOH case No: 19-1968
64-year-old male in Riyadh city, Riyadh region
Contact with camels: Yes
Case classification: Primary
Current status: Active

[3]
Date of confirmation report: 5 Nov 2019
MOH case No: 19-1969
MERS in Wadi Aldwasir city: 73-year-old male in Wadi Aldwasir city, Riyadh region
Contact with camels: Yes
Case classification: Primary
Current status: Active

[4]
Date of confirmation report: 4 Nov 2019
MOH case No: 19-1970
83-year-old male in Buraidah city, Qassim region
Contact with camels: Yes
Case classification: Primary
Current status: Active

Outcome reports (2)
Fatality (1)
MOH case No: 19-1961. Date of confirmation report: 24 Oct 2019. A 73-year-old male from Almozahmeia city, Riyadh region. Classified as a primary case with unknown history of camel contact. Date of outcome report: 3 Nov 2019. Outcome: died

Recovery (1)
MOH case No: 19-1959. Date of confirmation report: 17 Oct 2019. A 57-year-old male from Oyan Aljoa, Al Qasim region. Classified as a primary case with unknown history of camel contact. Date of outcome report: 4 Nov 2019. Outcome: recovered

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