| Event Updated | Country | Hazard | Disease | Event Description | IHR Assessment |
| 2018-01-28 | Democratic Republic of the Congo (the) | Infectious | Cholera | The Democratic Republic of the Congo is an endemic country for cholera and sporadic cases and outbreaks are common, particularly in the eastern provinces of the country. Since the beginning of 2016, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is experiencing a large cholera outbreak and in 2017 alone, the Ministry of Health reported 55,000 suspected cases across the country.
The capital of the DRC, Kinshasa, is not part of the endemic provinces for cholera, but has reported several cholera outbreaks over the last years. The most recent outbreak started around week 18 in 2017 and was largely controlled by week 32 in 2017.
From 1st to 23 January 2018, 591 cases including 16 deaths (CFR: 2.7 %) have been reported from 27 out of 35 health zones in Kinshasa province. The majority of these cases were reported in Binza Météo (223cases), Kintambo (138cases) and Limete (91cases) health zones. Of 56 specimens collected, 16 tested positive for Vibrio cholerae by stool culture.
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Public Health Risk (PHR) |
| 2018-01-27 | Saudi Arabia | Infectious | Coronavirus infection | Between 09 December 2017 and 18 January 2018, the National IHR Focal Point of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reported 20 additional cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), including nine (9) deaths. In addition, one (1) death from a previously reported case was reported to WHO.
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Public Health Risk (PHR) |
| 2018-01-26 | Switzerland | Animal | Influenza due to identified avian or animal influenza virus | On 23 January 2018, Switzerland informed WHO of a case of human infection with a swine influenza A(H1N1)v virus. The case is a 48-year old male farm worker from Switzerland, who was occupationally exposed to swine. On 20 December 2017, he presented with mild acute respiratory symptoms. On 28 December 2017 a nasal swab was collected by himself under supervision of a local veterinarian and sent to the Swiss National Centre for Influenza (NCI). The specimen was positive for an influenza virus of swine origin. Sequencing showed that it was closely related to European avian-like swine influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in swine in Europe. Swine influenza viruses isolated from humans are termed ‘variants’ (v). The highest sequence homology was found with an avian-like swine influenza A(H1N1)v virus detected in a farm worker in January 2017 in Switzerland. Samples from symptomatic swine at the farm where the current case worked also tested positive for influenza subtype A(N1). Further genetic characterisation is underway. No additional human cases related to this event were reported. This is the sixth human case in Switzerland, where similar cases have earlier been detected in 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016. Influenza A(H1N1) viruses are endemic in swine populations and circulate among swine in many regions of the world. | Public Health Risk (PHR) |
*A public health risk is something that is (or is likely to be) hazardous to human health or could contribute to a disease or an infectious condition in humans.
Considered to be one of the oldest government agencies, Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) is the health authority and a line bureau of the Department of Health (DOH). BOQ is mandated to ensure security against the introduction and spread of infectious diseases, emerging diseases and public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC).