News Releases

WHO publishes two landmark documents on leishmaniasis

Departmental news - Geneva - Leishmania parasites are transmitted through the bites of infected female phlebotomine sand flies, which feed on human blood to produce eggs. An estimated 31 species of Phlebotomus and 47 species of Lutzomyia sand fly species are considered the proven vectors of human leishmaniases (visceral and cutaneous). 

Uganda declares end of Ebola disease outbreak

Brazzaville/Kampala – Uganda today declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak caused by Sudan ebolavirus, less than four months after the first case was confirmed in the country’s central Mubende district on 20 September 2022. 

Bolstering Africa’s health emergency readiness and response

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in partnership with Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, West African Health Organization, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UK Health Security Agency, Robert Koch Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today kicked off the region’s largest public health emergency operation centre (PHEOC) simulation exercise to step up readiness to respond to public health emergencies, with 36 countries taking part in the two-day functional exercise.