Global & Disaster Medicine

Archive for May, 2019

At least 30 people are dead and a couple of hundred are missing after a boat sank over the weekend in Lake Mai-Ndombe in the Democratic Republic of Congo

NYT


New CDC website on RMSF

CDC-RMSF

2 maps of the United States. The top map shows where in the U.S. is the American Dog Tick located. The entire eastern half of the country as well as California are highlighted. The bottom map shows where the Rocky Mountain Wood Tick can be found. The North West part of the U.S. is highlighted.

Close up image of an American Dog Tick.

 


More than 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone genital cutting in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, ranging from nicks to extreme damage.

NYT


NOAA/NWS: Severe thunderstorms, including a few supercells with a risk for tornadoes, are expected today across much of the High Plains, into the central Plains. Additional severe thunderstorms are possible across the lower Ohio Valley into the Mid Atlantic Coast region, accompanied mainly by a risk for severe wind and hail.

Day 1 Convective Outlook

today Filtered Reports Graphic


Polio, Pakistan, and Politics

NYT

“……Pakistan has had 17 cases of polio paralysis this year; it had only three by this date last year, and only 12 in all of 2018.

In mid-April, widespread panic among parents in Peshawar and the surrounding northern tribal areas forced the suspension of a national immunization drive.

A scaremongering video spread on Twitter, purporting to show students collapsing after getting an expired batch of vaccine…..”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoMEdyqFdio

 


Sandy Hook Elementary School: The unintended consequences of well-intended generosity.

NYT

“……In the six and a half years since the deadliest elementary school shooting in American history, more than $100 million in federal, state, corporate and private money flowed into this community of about 28,000 in southwestern Connecticut……so much money engulfed the vulnerable, wounded Newtown that it inevitably sowed division. The town became a case study of how Americans’ material expressions of grief can become more an obstacle than an aid to recovery……..”

  • 60,000 teddy bears

“……..Lesson 1” from Sandy Hook is for the authorities — the mayor, the city council or the governor — to swiftly establish a single nonprofit benefiting victims and their families, so money intended for them is not atomized, or given to charities that lack the experience or ability to distribute it to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7uv3zqSq9o

 


El Reno, OK: The Skyview Mobile Home Park, the American Budget Inn motel and other nearby businesseshave sustained major damage and at least 2 people have been killed and others taken to hospitals.

KOCO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiKluIe8VAc


2018-2019 Influenza Season Week 20 ending May 18, 2019: Influenza activity remained low in United States and was similar to last week.

CDC

national levels of ILI and ARI

INFLUENZA Virus Isolated

Click on image to launch interactive tool

 


MONUSCO Deputy UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) David Gressly has been appointed UN Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator (EERC) in the Ebola affected areas of the DRC.

WHO

3 May 2019

Statement
Kinshasa/Butembo

Latest numbers as of 22 May 2019

Total cases: 1877
– Confirmed cases: 1789
– Probable cases: 88

Deaths: 1248
– Confirmed: 1160
– Probable: 88

With the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo now in its tenth month and the number of new cases increasing in recent weeks, the United Nations announced today measures to strengthen its response and end the outbreak.

The Ebola epidemic has claimed more than 1,200 lives and the risk of spread to other provinces in the eastern Congo as well as neighbouring countries remains very high. A third of those who have fallen ill are children, which is a higher proportion than in previous outbreaks.

Under the leadership of the Government and Congolese communities, with support from the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the response has contained Ebola in parts of Ituri and North Kivu provinces. But ongoing insecurity and community mistrust in the response continue to hamper access to communities. This is hindering efforts by WHO and the Ministry of Health to detect sick people and ensure access to treatment and vaccination, ultimately leading to more intense Ebola transmission.

In view of the increasingly complex environment, the UN in partnership with the Government and all partners is now strengthening its political engagement and operational support to negotiate access to communities; increasing support for humanitarian coordination; and bolstering preparedness and readiness planning for Goma and surrounding countries. WHO is adapting public health strategies to identify and treat people as quickly as possible; expanding vaccination to reach and protect more people; and redoubling work to end transmission in health facilities.

The UN Secretary-General has established a strengthened coordination and support mechanism in the epicenter of the outbreak, Butembo.

MONUSCO Deputy UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) David Gressly has been appointed UN Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator (EERC) in the Ebola affected areas of the DRC. Mr. Gressly, who brings a wealth of humanitarian leadership and political and security experience to the role, will report to the SRSG, Leila Zerrougui. He will oversee the coordination of international support for the Ebola response and work to ensure that an enabling environment—particularly security and political—is in place to allow the Ebola response to be even more effective.

Mr. Gressly will work closely with WHO, which will continue to lead all health operations and technical support activities to the Government response to the epidemic. Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, Assistant Director-General, Emergency Response, who has been in Butembo since end-March, is leading the WHO response in DRC. WHO will also continue to coordinate public health interventions that are being implemented by other UN partners.

“The Ebola response is working in an operating environment of unprecedented complexity for a public health emergency—insecurity and political protests have led to periodic disruptions in our efforts to fight the disease. Therefore, an enhanced UN-wide response is required to overcome these operating constraints and this includes moving senior leadership and operational decision making to the epicenter of the epidemic in Butembo. We have no time to lose,” said DSRSG Gressly.

WHO’s Dr. Fall said: “This system-wide and international support is exactly what WHO has been calling for. We know that the outbreak response must be owned by the local population, and this new approach reflects what they have asked for: better security for patients and health workers, wider access to vaccination, and a more humane face to the response.” Dr. Fall has been working alongside Dr. Michel Yao, the WHO Ebola Incident Manager who has been in place since August 2018.  In Kinshasa, WHO has also appointed a special representative to the Ebola Response, Dr. Peter Graaff, to coordinate with partners there.

Additional UN measures will bolster the critical work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and agencies already on the ground, including UNICEF. Working with NGOs, UNICEF leads community engagement activities; provides psychosocial interventions; and helps prevent infection through water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Financial planning and reporting will also be strengthened and efforts will be accelerated to ensure sustainable and predictable funding required for the Ebola strategic response plan considering the ongoing needs.


DRC and Ebola

DRC

La situation épidémiologique de la Maladie à Virus Ebola en date du 18 mai 2019 :
  • Depuis le début de l’épidémie, le cumul des cas est de 1.816, dont 1.728 confirmés et 88 probables. Au total, il y a eu 1.209 décès (1.121 confirmés et 88 probables) et 482 personnes guéries.
  • 291 cas suspects en cours d’investigation ;
  • 15 nouveaux cas confirmés, dont 4 à Butembo, 4 à Mabalako, 2 à Katwa, 2 à Beni, 1 à Musienene, 1 à Kalunguta et 1 à Mandima ;
  • 11 nouveaux décès des cas onfirmés, dont
    • 6 décès communautaires, dont 2 à Butembo, 2 à Mabalako, 1 à Katwa et 1 à Beni ;
    • 5 décès au CTE, dont 4 à Butembo et 1 à Mabalako ;
  • 16 nouveaux guéris sortis du CTE, dont 12 à Butembo et 4 à Katwa.

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