Ebola sickens 1 more person in Guinea

One more Ebola case has been reported from Nzerekore, where the country’s latest outbreak has been under way since the middle of February, Ibrahima Soce Fall, MD, assistant director-general for emergency response at the World Health Organization (WHO), said today at a briefing.

The new case brings Guinea’s outbreak total to 18, which includes 8 deaths. Fall said about 100 WHO staff have been deployed to the region. Eight of the 18 cases were reported in the past week.

Michel Yao, PhD, the WHO’s director of strategic health operations, said the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is stable, but it’s too early to say if the situation in Guinea is the same. He said response components are still getting up to speed in Guinea.

The DRC currently has 11 cases, 4 of them fatal. Three of the cases were reported this week.
WHO Ebola page

Four countries report more vaccine-derived polio cases

Four countries—two in Africa and two in the Middle East—reported new polio cases over the past week, all involving circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), according to the latest update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

In Africa, Ethiopia reported 1 case in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNP), which is counted with its 2020 total, now at 26. South Sudan reported 7 more cases in five provinces, raising its 2020 total to 47, all linked to Chad’s ongoing outbreak.

In the Middle East, Afghanistan reported 1 more cVDPV2 case, involving a patient from Badghis, bringing its total for 2021 to 6. And Pakistan reported 3 such cases, 2 in Sindh province and 1 in Punjab province, putting its total for the year at 6.
Mar 4 GPEI report