Here’s a snapshot at some infectious disease outbreaks in Africa:

Plague in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Image/Faigl.ladislav
Image/Faigl.ladislav

The DRC Ministry of Health reported four deceased suspected cases of pneumonic plague identified retrospectively in the same family from Atungkulei Village, Mahagi District, Ituri Province.

The cases were identified following an alert received from the Uganda Ministry of Health on 8 March 2019 of two probable cases of pneumonic plague in Zombo District, located in the West Nile sub-region, at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo are epidemiologically linked to those in Uganda.

Measles in Madagascar

From 3 September 2018 to 20 March 2019, 117,075 cases have been reported. This is up nearly 12,000 cases since our report last week.

One hundred five (105) out of 114 districts in all the 22 regions are in the epidemic phase.

Anthrax in Tanzania

In total, 10 cases with two deaths have been reported from Moshi DC, Kilimanjaro Region between 22 February and 17 March 2019.

All cases had a history of handling or eating meat from animals with symptoms of anthrax.

Lassa fever in Liberia

Cumulatively, 16 cases including four deaths have been confirmed since the beginning of 2019.