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This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African region. This week’s articles cover:
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Dengue fever in Ethiopia
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Measles in Mauritania
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:
There is an ongoing dengue fever outbreak in Afar region situated in the north-eastern part of Ethiopia since April 2023 and the affected districts are Logia and Mille. Afar region is one of the recently flood-affected regions (together with Somali, Oromia, Southern Nations Nationalities & Peoples, and South-west Ethiopia Peoples) following a short rainy season between February and April. With the ongoing floods producing stagnant waters, which become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, the region is also struggling to control the spread of malaria while facing the ongoing dengue fever outbreak. Ethiopia is one of the African countries experiencing recurrent emergency situations requiring support from its international partners to mitigate impact on the population lives.
The ongoing measles outbreak in Mauritania has affected 28 districts (Mouaghataa) in 11 regions (wilayas) this year, with most cases reported from Bassiknou district, home to an affected refugee camp. Two additional districts reported confirmed cases in the last reporting week. There are challenges in monitoring travellers at border crossings, underreporting of suspected cases, weak community surveillance, and low immunization coverage among the population, as the last follow-up campaign was conducted in 2018