Attachments
This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African region. This week’s articles cover:
-
Floods and Landslides in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
-
Measles in Mauritania
-
Mpox in Africa
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 recent events that have been controlled and closed.
Major issues and challenges include:
-
The Kalehe health zone of South Kivu province in Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is facing one of the worst natural disasters ever experienced in the recent period. Heavy rains that occurred in the first week of May 2023 caused the overflow of Chishova, Kabushungu, Lukungula, Lwano and Nyamukubi rivers with floods and landslides leading to extensive damages with fatalities, injuries and infrastructural losses. The human toll could increase as searches for a large number of missing people continue. The affected areas are already hosting thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing armed conflicts from the neighboring North Kivu province and other South Kivu’s territories, thus increasing number of the population in need of humanitarian assistance in the region. Authorities and humanitarian partners are on the ground trying to alleviate the suffering of the disaster-affected populations; however, the immediate needs are huge and require immense resources.
-
The measles outbreak in Mauritania has affected 11 wilayas this year with the majority of cases reported from Bassiknou Mouaghataa where an affected refugee camp is located. There are challenges to monitor people at border crossings. There is also low reporting of suspected cases and weak active case surveillance especially in the communities. Another main factor is low immunization coverage among the population where the last campaign was conducted five years ago.