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South Sudan + 40 more

Weekly Bulletin on Outbreaks and other Emergencies: Week 6: 5 - 11 February 2024 (Data as reported by: 17:00; 11 February 2024)

Attachments

Overview

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African region. This week’s articles cover:

Yellow fever in South Sudan

Lassa Fever in Guinea

Measles in Burkina Faso

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:

South Sudan is among the nine countries in the WHO African region that reported YF confirmed cases in 2023. The risk of further spread within South Sudan is concerning due to several factors, including the presence of unvaccinated populations, frequent population movements, favourable environments for the vectors, and other contributing factors. The country’s ability to effectively respond to multiple concurrent outbreaks, such as measles, poliomyelitis, Mpox, cholera, diphtheria, hepatitis E, Lassa fever, and dengue, is severely strained. Additionally, challenges such as food insecurity, security constraints, and a complex humanitarian context further exacerbate the situation.

Guinea has commenced public health efforts through rapid response teams and contact tracing to fully mitigate the Lassa Fever outbreak. The response has been hindered by the limited access to Ribavirin, a crucial antiviral treatment, and poor infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in healthcare facilities. To control the outbreak, urgent action is needed from national authorities and partners to secure Ribavirin supplies and strengthen IPC practices to effectively control the spread of Lassa fever.