Emergencies
Ebola – DRC+
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Ebola Outbreak in DRC 70: 03 December 2019
Situation Update
In the week of 25 November to 1 December 2019, 10 new confirmed EVD cases were reported from two health zones in two affected provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The confirmed cases in this week came from Mabalako (50%, n=5) and Mandima (50%, n=5) Health Zones.
In the past week, violence, widespread civil unrest, and targeted attacks have severely disrupted the Ebola response and restricted access to affected communities in multiple locations.
On the night of 27 November 2019, an attack on the Ebola response camp in Biakato Mines resulted in the death of three responders and the injury of seven others. Response personnel in Biakato were relocated to Goma, and the majority of response activities in the area have been suspended. On the same night, a separate attack on the Ebola coordination office in Mangina resulted in one death. Most response personnel in Mangina have also been relocated. As of 2 December 2019, North Kivu Province has declared ‘ville morte’ and many response activities have been suspended across the province.
As seen previously during this outbreak, such disruptions limit contact tracing, surveillance, and vaccination efforts, and they may result in increased transmission…
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WHO Director-General praises bravery of health workers during visit to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo following fatal attacks on Ebola responders
1 December 2019 News release
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Democratic Republic of Congo
As security situation deteriorates, MSF withdraws staff from Biakato
Statement 6 Dec 2019
On 4 December 2019, Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF) took the painful decision to temporarily withdraw our staff from the Biakato region of Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. After months of working extremely closely with the community to address the health needs in the region, MSF is saddened to have made this decision….
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Gavi Board approves new Ebola vaccine programme
New Delhi, 5 December 2019 – A global emergency stockpile of Ebola vaccines will be available to countries for outbreak response and prevention following the approval of a new Ebola vaccine programme by the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which met this week in New Delhi, India.
Gavi will open a new funding window, with estimated investment of US$ 178 million between now and 2025 for the new Ebola vaccine programme. Gavi-supported low- and middle-income countries will be able to access the stockpile free of charge and will receive support for the operational costs of vaccination campaigns. Wealthier countries will be able to access vaccines but will be expected to self-finance.
As well as creating the emergency stockpile, Gavi will also support targeted preventative vaccination outside of an outbreak in high-risk populations, such as health workers, in countries at risk. The target populations and scope of countries will be based on future recommendations by the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE).
“Today, I think about Ebola victim Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, a true vaccine hero who died stopping the Ebola virus from spreading in Nigeria and we should all be excited by the Alliance decision,” said Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Gavi Board. “This is a historic milestone in humanity’s fight against this horrific disease. Just five years ago we faced an Ebola outbreak in West Africa with no vaccine and no way to treat the disease. Today, thanks to the heroic efforts of countless patients, health workers, scientists, manufacturers, donors, partners as well as the leadership of African countries, we now have one vaccine approved for use and more on their way, as well as rapid diagnostics and several promising treatments. With these tools at our disposal, the battle against Ebola can be won, and I’m proud of the role Gavi has played in this.”
The W
HO’s SAGE Working Group on Ebola Vaccines and Vaccination has provided guidance that the global emergency stockpile should be maintained at 500,000 licensed doses of vaccines. The price of Ebola vaccines funded by Gavi will be defined as part of a tender process managed by UNICEF, as Gavi’s partner and procurement agency.
There are currently eight candidate Zaire Ebolavirus vaccines at different phases of development. This includes Merck’s vaccine currently being used under compassionate use as part of the response to the ongoing DRC outbreak, which has recently received conditional marketing approval from the European Commission and prequalification from the WHO. More than 250,000 people have received it since the outbreak started in August last year. Moreover, close to a thousand people have received a second candidate vaccine manufactured by Johnson & Johnson as part of a study in North Kivu, DRC.
“The Ebola vaccine has shown extraordinary efficacy in tackling the outbreak in the DRC,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “This achievement demonstrates the Alliance at its best. Now that funding has been approved, we will get to work with manufacturers and our Alliance partners to build the stockpile. It will be critical for Gavi to secure enough funding for the 2021-2025 period to maintain this Ebola vaccine programme in order to protect people, health systems and economies that may be threatened by this devastating disease in the future.”
A coordinating mechanism to decide how and when the vaccine stockpile will be deployed will be established with partner organisations.
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POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 04 December 2019
:: To provide an insight on the status of polio eradication efforts as at September 2019, the WHO Director-General’s report on polio eradication to the upcoming Executive Board (EB) meeting has been published here. Available in six languages, the report summarizes the programmatic, epidemiological and financial challenges to securing a lasting polio-free world.
Summary of new viruses this week (AFP cases and ES positives):
:: Afghanistan — one WPV1 case and one WPV1 positive environmental sample;
:: Pakistan — 25 WPV1 positive environmental samples;
:: Angola — 16 cVDPV2 cases and four cVDPV2 positive environmental samples.
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Editor’s Note:
WHO has posted a refreshed emergencies page which presents an updated listing of Grade 3,2,1 emergencies as below.
WHO Grade 3 Emergencies [to 7 Dec 2019]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
:: Ebola Outbreak in DRC 70: 03 December 2019
Mozambique floods – No new digest announcements identified
Nigeria – No new digest announcements identified
Somalia – No new digest announcements identified
South Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Syrian Arab Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Yemen – No new digest announcements identified
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WHO Grade 2 Emergencies [to 7 Dec 2019]
Angola
:: WHO supports Angola’s Government efforts to end polio outbreak 02 December 2019
Afghanistan – No new digest announcements identified
Burkina Faso [in French] – No new digest announcements identified
Burundi – No new digest announcements identified
Cameroon – No new digest announcements identified
Central African Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Ethiopia – No new digest announcements identified
HIV in Pakistan – No new digest announcements identified
Iran floods 2019 – No new digest announcements identified
Iraq – No new digest announcements identified
Libya – No new digest announcements identified
Malawi floods – No new digest announcements identified
Measles in Europe – No new digest announcements identified
MERS-CoV – No new digest announcements identified
Myanmar – No new digest announcements identified
Niger – No new digest announcements identified
occupied Palestinian territory – No new digest announcements identified
Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Ukraine – No new digest announcements identified
Zimbabwe – No new digest announcements identified
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WHO Grade 1 Emergencies [to 7 Dec 2019]
Chad – No new digest announcements identified
Djibouti – No new digest announcements identified
Kenya – No new digest announcements identified
Mali – No new digest announcements identified
Namibia – viral hepatitis – No new digest announcements identified
Tanzania – No new digest announcements identified
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UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises.
Syrian Arab Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Yemen – No new digest announcements identified
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UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
Editor’s Note:
Ebola in the DRC has bene added as a OCHA “Corporate Emergency” this week:
CYCLONE IDAI and Kenneth
:: 06 December 2019 Southern Africa: Humanitarian Key Messages, December 2019
EBOLA OUTBREAK IN THE DRC – No new digest announcements identified
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vaccines and global health :: ethics and policy 