News Releases

As African countries begin to reopen borders and air spaces, it is crucial that governments take effective measures to mitigate the risk of a surge in infections due to the resumption of commercial flights and airport operations.

The Ebola outbreak in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was declared over today, almost two years since the first case was confirmed. The DRC Ministry of Health made the announcement after no new cases were reported 42 days since the last patient tested negative for the virus.

The independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC), responsible for certifying the eradication of wild poliovirus in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region, is set to make its final decision about the region’s wild poliovirus status in August 2020.

Humanitarian crises, including health emergencies affect men and women differently. As COVID-19 continues to spread in Africa, there are concerns over its impact on women and girls, with vulnerabilities feared to worsen as the pandemic overwhelms health systems.

COVID-19 continues to spread in Africa since the virus was first detected on the continent in mid-February 2020. More than 200 000 cases have been confirmed so far, with over 5600 deaths. The pandemic is accelerating – it took 98 days to reach 100 000 cases and only 19 days to move to 200 000 cases.

New genetic sequence analysis by the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB) has found that the newly-identified Ebola virus circulating in the Equateur Province in western DRC is different from the one which has infected more than 3400 people in the eastern part of the country.

Mali and Sierra Leone have been selected as new members of the WHO Global Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights initiative (SRHR). The announcement was made at the end of May to the two countries.

Expertise in polio eradication that has put Africa on the verge of being certified free of wild poliovirus has been brought to the frontlines of COVID-19 fight. A network of responders from the World Health Organization (WHO) Polio Eradication Programme and partner organizations is providing critical resources and skills to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Equatorial Guinea has informed the WHO Regional Office for Africa that its country head of office, Dr Triphonie Nkurunziza must leave Malabo as soon as possible. WHO finds the decision regrettable.

The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced today that a new outbreak of Ebola virus disease is occurring in Wangata health zone, Mbandaka, in Équateur province. The announcement comes as a long, difficult and complex Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC is in its final phase, while the country also battles COVID-19 and the world’s largest measles outbreak.