This Weekly Bulletin focuses on public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. This week’s articles cover:
Cholera in the WHO African Region
Measles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
COVID-19 across the WHO African Region
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:
Cholera remains endemic in several African countries. Since mid-2021, there has been an increase in global reported cholera outbreaks, with countries mainly in the WHO African Region reporting outbreaks to WHO. While the WHO African region is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic and other outbreaks and emergencies, cholera cases are rising significantly, with broadened geographic spread. In 2022, 14 countries reported cholera cases or outbreaks. Four countries reported higher case numbers and case fatality ratios than previous years (3% and above), well above the acceptable (<1%) and the highest recorded in over a decade. The burden of cholera could get worse unless member states and implementing partners put measures in place to control and prevent outbreaks.
Source: World Health Organization