Global & Disaster Medicine

Archive for January, 2020

Public Health Emergency Law Online Training

https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/trainings/ph-emergencylaw.html?deliveryName=USCDC_289-DM18083

Management of public health emergencies requires effective use of legal authorities. In these incidents, public health and emergency management responses must be coordinated under a complex set of federal, state, tribal, and local laws. CDC’s Public Health Emergency Law course prepares state, tribal, local, and territorial practitioners to make informed legal decisions related to emergency preparedness and response activities in their jurisdictions.

PHEL consists of three competency-based units and covers legal issues to consider before, during, and after public health emergencies. Each interactive unit takes about 40 minutes to complete.

Public Health Emergency Law Online Trainingexternal icon

  • Unit 1—Introduction to Emergency Management Systems Preparedness and Response
    Covers the legal underpinnings of emergency management systems
  • Unit 2—Emergency Powers: Protection of Persons, Volunteers, and Responders
    Describes legal considerations for personnel responding to emergencies
  • Unit 3—Emergency Powers: Management and Protection of Property and Supplies
    Examines considerations surrounding materials and property during public health emergencies

Disclaimer: These course materials are for instructional use only and are not intended as a substitute for professional legal or other advice. While every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of these materials, the legal authorities and requirements may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Always seek the advice of an attorney or other qualified professional with any questions you may have regarding a legal matter. The contents of these presentations have not been formally disseminated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.


WHO course: Emerging respiratory viruses, including nCoV: methods for detection, prevention, response and control

https://openwho.org/courses/introduction-to-ncov

Course information

Overview: This course provides a general introduction to emerging respiratory viruses, including novel coronaviruses. By the end of this course, you should be able to describe:

  • The nature of emerging respiratory viruses, how to detect and assess an outbreak, strategies for preventing and controlling outbreaks due to novel respiratory viruses;
  • What strategies should be used to communicate risk and engage communities to detect, prevent and respond to the emergence of a novel respiratory virus.

There are resources attached to each module to help you dive further into this topic.

Learning objective: Describe the fundamental principles of emerging respiratory viruses and how to effectively respond to an outbreak.

Course duration: Approximately 1 hour.

Certificates: No certificate available at this time.

Attention:

  • WHO teams are working on additional modules which will be uploaded in the coming days.
  • You will be notified when new modules and videos are uploaded. Currently, the materials are offered as slide decks.
  • The course will offer a certificate in the future, after all of the modules have been published and a quiz has been added to each module.

Course contents

  • Emerging respiratory viruses, including nCoV: Introduction:

    This brief introduction provides an overview of emerging respiratory viruses, including nCoV.

  • Module A: Introduction to Emerging respiratory viruses, including nCoV:

    Overall learning objective: To be able to explain why an emerging respiratory virus, including nCoV are a global threat to human health

  • Module B: Detecting Emerging respiratory viruses, including nCoV: Surveillance and Laboratory investigation:

    Overall learning objective: To describe how to detect and assess an emerging respiratory virus outbreak

  • Module C: Risk Communication and Community Engagement:

    Overall learning objective: To describe what strategies should be used to communicate risk and engage communities to detect, prevent and respond to nCoV


Pandemic Supply Chain Network (PSCN)

https://www.weforum.org/projects/pandemic-supply-chain-network-pscn

Partners will build a pandemic-ready supply chain network, the Pandemic Supply Chain Network (PSCN), through global public-private collaboration that connects various organizations involved in an emergency supply chain operations to ensure timely delivery of critical health supplies to the people who need it most.

PSCN aims to:

 

  • Contribute to public sector, industry, and civil society outreach and consultation, and as such, provide input into WHO’s development of the disease commodity packages.

 

  • Operationalise a mechanism/multistakeholder platform to support coordination and visibility into production, availability, and strategic allocation of strategic commodities, services, and other critical resources essential to managing large outbreaks of international concern.

 

 

PANDEMIC SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORK

The new Pandemic Supply Chain Network, a collaboration between the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum, has begun convening calls with 350 private sector organizations and 10 multilateral organizations to assess the market capacity and risk to global personal protection equipment production. The results of the assessment are expected Feb. 5.


The President’s Coronavirus Task Force

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-regarding-presidents-coronavirus-task-force/

Today, President Donald J. Trump announced the formation of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force.  Members of the Task Force have been meeting on a daily basis since Monday.  At today’s meeting, which the President chaired, he charged the Task Force with leading the United States Government response to the novel 2019 coronavirus and with keeping him apprised of developments.

The Task Force is led by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, and is coordinated through the National Security Council.  It is composed of subject matter experts from the White House and several United States Government agencies, and it includes some of the Nation’s foremost experts on infectious diseases.

The Task Force will lead the Administration’s efforts to monitor, contain, and mitigate the spread of the virus, while ensuring that the American people have the most accurate and up-to-date health and travel information.

The President’s top priority is the health and welfare of the American people.  That is why, in 2018, President Trump signed the National Biodefense Strategy, which improves speed of action in situations such as this.  The Administration, led by the President’s Task Force, will continue to work to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

The risk of infection for Americans remains low, and all agencies are working aggressively to monitor this continuously evolving situation and to keep the public informed.  For more information, please visit CDC.gov.

Members of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force:

Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Health and Human Services

Robert O’Brien, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health

Deputy Secretary Stephen Biegun, Department of State

Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

Joel Szabat, Acting Under Secretary for Policy, Department of Transportation

Matthew Pottinger, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor

Rob Blair, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff

Joseph Grogan, Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council

Christopher Liddell, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination

Derek Kan, Executive Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget


2019 nCoV: January 30, 2020 – Morning Update

EPI UPDATES According to China’s National Health Commission there are 7,711 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in China, with 170 deaths, 170 discharges, 12,167 suspected cases, and 81,947 contacts currently under medical observation. China CDC is reporting cases in 31 of the 33 national provinces. Outside of China, there are 68 confirmed cases in 17 countries. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that local human to human transmission of the virus has been reported in Vietnam, Japan, and Germany.

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare confirmed the country’s first case, a student in Kerala who had recently returned from studying in Wuhan. The Philippines confirmed its first case, a 38-year-old woman who recently traveled to Wuhan.

 


M 7.7 Earthquake – 125km NNW of Lucea, Jamaica

DYFI intensity map


SARS up close

 


CDC, Health Secretary Azar Update On Coronavirus | NBC News (Live Stream)


Press Statement on Yellow Fever in Moyo and Buliisa districts in Uganda

https://www.afro.who.int/news/press-statement-yellow-fever-moyo-and-buliisa-districts-uganda?utm_source=Global+Health+NOW+Main+List&utm_campaign=65aa1f7137-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_27_01_49&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8d0d062dbd-65aa1f7137-893211

Kampala, 27 January 2020:- The Ministry of Health would like to inform the public of the confirmation of an outbreak of Yellow Fever in Moyo District in West Nile region and Buliisa District in Hoima region.

In Moyo District, there are two confirmed cases, both are males aged 18 and 21 years. The two cases were dealing in cutting and trading timber between Uganda and South Sudan. On 2 January 2020, the two cases travelled from South Sudan to Moyo.

Upon arrival, they got ill and on 3 January 2020, they were admitted at Logobo Health Center III in Moyo District. They were later referred to Moyo General Hospital with symptoms of fever, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, abdominal and joint pain, confusion and unexplained bleeding.

Unfortunately, they later died in the isolation ward of Moyo General Hospital. Blood samples were withdrawn and sent for testing at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). Results from UVRI confirmed Yellow Fever infection.

In Buliisa, there are also two confirmed cases. A 37-year old male and his 38-year old wife. The husband was a cattle farmer trading in milk between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On 31 October 2019, he visited Buliisa Hospital with a headache, vomiting, and abdominal pain and received supportive treatment. He died on 4 November 2019 at Buliisa Hospital. At this time, there was little suspicion, however, his blood sample was withdrawn and sent to UVRI for testing. On 10 December 2019, the sample tested positive for Yellow fever virus. This prompted our teams to follow up with investigations, samples were collected from seven of his contacts, including his wife. On 22 January 2020, the wife tested positive for Yellow Fever virus. The other 6 samples tested negative. She is alive and well.

The district health teams of Moyo and Buliisa have initiated investigations. In addition, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) have dispatched Rapid Response Teams to Moyo and Buliisa Districts to support: investigations, active search for cases, community mobilization and sensitization.

The Ministry of Health has requested for the Yellow Fever vaccines from the International Coordination Group that manages Global Stockpiles of Yellow Fever and Meningitis vaccines. We anticipate that within the next two weeks, vaccines will be available and vaccination will commence in Moyo and Buliisa districts.

Ministry of Health has also applied to GAVI and WHO for the inclusion of the Yellow Fever vaccination into the routine immunisation schedule. Having faced 4 outbreaks, Uganda now qualifies to introduce Yellow Fever vaccine as a long term measure to prevent Yellow Fever outbreaks.

Yellow fever is a disease transmitted through bites of mosquitoes infected by the Yellow Fever virus (flavirvirus). Symptoms include: high fever, headache, general body aches, fatigue, vomiting, blood in urine or stool and or yellow discoloration of skin and or eyes.

The Ministry of Health appeals to the general public to observe the following;

  • All travellers in and out of the country MUST be vaccinated against Yellow Fever. Travelers are urged to comply with this travel requirement to ensure that the risk of spread of yellow fever through international travel is minimized.
  • The population are advised to always sleep under a mosquito net
  • Report any suspected cases to the nearest health facility

In conclusion, The Ministry of Health re-echoes its call to the public to cooperate with officials during the investigation and response to the outbreaks. The Ministry would also like to re-assure Ugandans and all other residents that with the experience and expertise available in the country, the disease will be contained.

We appeal to the public to remain calm and vigilant and report any suspected cases to the nearest health facility or call our toll-free number 0800-203-033

HON. ACENG JANE RUTH
MINISTER OF HEALTH


Novel Coronavirus(2019-nCoV) Situation Report – 7

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200127-sitrep-7-2019–ncov.pdf?sfvrsn=98ef79f5_2

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

Globally  2798 confirmed

China

2741 confirmed

5794 suspected  

461 severe    

80 deaths         

Outside of China       37 confirmed      11 countries

WHO RISK ASSESSMENT
China Very High

Regional Level High

Global Level High

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and colleagues are in Beijing to meet with government and health experts supporting the response. The mission’s aim is to understand the latest developments and strengthen the partnership with China, in particular for the response. • Current estimates of the incubation period of the virus range from 2-10 days, and these estimates will be refined as more data become available. Understanding the time when infected patients may transmit the virus to others is critical for control efforts. Detailed epidemiological information from more people infected is needed to determine the infectious period of 2019nCoV, in particular whether transmission can occur from asymptomatic individuals or during the incubation period.  WHO requests countries to notify WHO of cases following the guidance included in: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/global-surveillance-forhuman-infection-with-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov) • WHO is continually monitoring developments and on standby to reconvene the Emergency Committee on very short notice as needed. Committee members are regularly informed of developments.


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