APO News from Africa:
The Minister of Public Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Dr Oly Ilunga Kalenga, has informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of “an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)” in Likati health district (Aketi, Bas-Uélé province), more than 1300 kilometres from Kinshasa in the northern DRC, following confirmation of the disease by the National Biomedical Research Institute (INRB), the national reference laboratory. ‘‘Of the five blood specimens taken from suspected cases and analysed at INRB, one has tested positive for Ebola virus (Zaïre serotype) using real-time polymerase chain reaction,’’ the Minister of Public Health indicated in a letter to the WHO representative in the DRC, and requested ‘‘support from WHO to strengthen the response to this outbreak’’. Since 22 April 2017, 9 suspected EVD cases have been reported including 3 deaths in Likati health district, i.e. a case-fatality rate of 33.3%, according to an official assessment on 11 May 2017.
‘‘The WHO Country Office in the DRC is working closely with the national and provincial authorities and with the WHO Regional Office for Africa, WHO headquarters in Geneva and all other partners to facilitate deployment of health workers and protective kits in the field to strengthen epidemiological surveillance and rapidly control the outbreak’’, says Dr Yokouidé Allarangar, WHO representative in the DRC. Dr Allarangar also announced that Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, would arrive in Kinshasa this weekend to attend a coordination meeting of the national committee at the Ministry of Health to deal with this emergency and ensure that WHO provides all necessary assistance to the DRC.
WHO has also drawn up a comprehensive logistics plan to meet urgent requirements. ‘‘The first teams of epidemiologists, biologists, and experts in the areas of social mobilization, risk communication and community engagement, and also personnel specializing in water, hygiene and sanitation, are scheduled to reach the affected area today or tomorrow via Kisangani’’, the administrative centre of Tshopo (350 kilometres from Buta), Dr Allarangar added. ‘‘The Likati health district is in a remote area, but contact tracing is essential to contain the outbreak in its focus; the DRC can rely on very experienced health workers for this purpose.’’ Dr Allarangar also appealed to other partners to work with the country to put in place an appropriately coordinated multisectoral approach. Médecins Sans Frontières, the NGO ALIMA, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Gavi Alliance, the World Food Programme/United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (WFP-UNHAS), and the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) are now standing ready to lend their support to the authorities in the DRC.
This confirmed outbreak is centred on the Nambwa health area approximately 130 kilometres from Buta, the administrative centre of Bas-Uélé province, which shares a border with the Central African Republic; it is the eighth EVD outbreak in the DRC since 1976. The most recent recorded outbreak was in August 2014 in Boende region, where the disease was brought under control where it started in Lokolia, now in Tshuapa province.
Distributed by APO on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
On 9 May, WHO was informed of a cluster of undiagnosed illness and deaths including haemorrhagic symptoms in Likati Health Zone, Bas Uele Province in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bordering Central African Republic.
On 11 May, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo informed WHO that of five laboratory samples tested, one tested positive for Ebola virus at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) laboratory in Kinshasa. Additional laboratory samples are currently being tested.
Since 22 April, nine suspected cases including three deaths have been reported. Six cases are currently hospitalized.
“An investigation team led by the Ministry of Health and supported by WHO and partners has deployed and is expected to reach the affected area in the coming days”, says Dr. Peter Salama, WHO Executive Director for Emergencies.
WHO and partners are supporting the Ministry of Health in all aspects of the response, including epidemiological investigation, surveillance, logistics and supplies, communications and community engagement.
Distributed by APO on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
Zwelethu Mnisi, the new Permanent Representative of Swaziland to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Michael Møller, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Mnisi served as the Permanent Representative of Swaziland to the United Nations in New York since 2010. In 2014 and 2015, he was also the Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly. He served as Counsellor at the Swaziland Embassy in Washington, D.C. from 2007 to 2010. From 2005 to 2007, he was a Counsellor at the High Commission of Swaziland in London, after serving there as a Counsellor and Acting Head of Mission from 2004 to 2005.
From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Mnisi was Chargé d’Affaires at the Swaziland Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, after serving as First Secretary of Administration there from 2000 to 2002. From 1997 to 2000, he was First Secretary of Administration of the High Commission of Swaziland in Ottawa, Canada. A career diplomat, he first joined Swaziland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993, where he worked as an Africa Desk Officer, focusing on the Organization of African Unity, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern Africa Customs Union.
Mr. Mnisi received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Law from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 1991. Born in Mbabane, Swaziland, on 9 July 1961, he is married with five children.
Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
