A year since Malawi confirmed its first case of wild poliovirus type 1 in 30 years, more than 33 million children across five southern African countries have been vaccinated against the virus, with over 80 million vaccine doses administered over the past year.
A CAD$ 30million project in partnership with Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity (CanGIVE) is set to significantly bolster targeted, equitable delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to high-risk communities across Africa.
Equatorial Guinea today confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease. Preliminary tests carried out following the deaths of at least nine people in the country’s eastern Kie Ntem Province turned out positive on one of the samples for the viral haemorrhagic fever
Africa is witnessing an exponential rise in cholera cases amid a global surge. Cases recorded on the continent in the first month of 2023 alone have already risen by more than 30% of the total caseload reached in the whole of 2022.
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).
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Gilead Sciences have signed a new agreement for the donation of 304,700 vials of AmBisome (liposomal amphotericin B for injection), for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in countries most impacted by the disease, extending their previous agreement to 2025.
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.
Kampala, Brazzaville, Geneva – The first doses of one of three candidate vaccines against Sudan ebolavirus arrived in Uganda yesterday. These will be evaluated in a clinical trial called the Solidarity Against Ebola or Tokomeza Ebola.
While Africa is witnessing its lowest level of new COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic, a recent four-week rise—the first such sustained increase in four months—underscores the criticality of maintaining vigilance as the end-year holiday seasons sets in.
