Tag: virus
Marburg virus outbreaks highlight link between health and planet: Tedros
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that in Equatorial Guinea, WHO is on the ground supporting the outbreak response. “We have deployed teams to assist with case finding, clinical care, logistics, and community engagement. We have also helped to establish treatment units in the affected areas,” he said. The number of officially reported…
Read MoreWHO supports Equatorial Guinea in combatting country’s first-ever deadly Marburg virus outbreak
The rare yet severe viral haemorrhagic fever is similar to Ebola and has a fatality rate of up to 88 per cent. So far, there have been nine deaths and 16 suspected cases with symptoms including fever, fatigue and blood-stained vomit and diarrhoea, WHO reported on Monday. Further investigations are ongoing. Rapid action, expert…
Read MoreCOVID-19: WHO highlights critical importance of sharing virus sequences
“Since the peak of the Omicron wave, the number of sequences being shared has dropped by more than 90 per cent, and the number of countries sharing sequences has fallen by a third,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking during his latest media briefing. The WHO chief recalled that the first sequence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus…
Read MoreUganda declares end of Ebola virus outbreak
Infections had occurred in the major cities of Kampala and Jinja, fuelling concerns that the disease could extend well into 2023. In 2019, Uganda experienced an outbreak of the Zaire strain of Ebola. Head of the UN health agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, congratulated the authorities for their “robust” response to the outbreak, less than four…
Read MoreCOVID in Europe: China’s surge not a cause for concern ‘at this time’ says WHO, as XBB.1.5 virus spreads
Dr. Hans Kluge, head of the World Health Organization for Europe, explained that this is because the two variants circulating in China are already present in European countries, according to data provided by the Chinese authorities. “We share the current view of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) that the ongoing surge in…
Read MoreAs virus spreads ‘freely’ COVID-19 ‘nowhere near over’: Tedros |
He reported that the Emergency Committee on COVID-19 last Friday concluded that “the virus remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. And while acknowledging that we are in a much better position than at the beginning of the pandemic, he reminded that new waves demonstrate the COVID-19 pandemic “is nowhere near over”. Combined…
Read MoreGhana prepares for possible first-ever Marburg virus outbreak |
Preliminary analysis of samples taken from two patients by the country’s Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research indicated the cases were positive for Marburg, and samples have been sent to the Institut Pasteur in Senegal, a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre, for confirmation. The two, unrelated, patients from the southern Ashanti region showed symptoms…
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