World Status Report

This report intends to give the UTD Community a snapshot of international risks, and other issues as reported by the linked media and official sources from the U.S. and other countries.

More health and security information for each country can be found in the travel advisories issued by the governments of the United States, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, and the CDC, ECDC, and WHO sites. Not all advise in these sites will apply to US travelers.

Please note the publication date of this report and go to the direct sources linked for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.

Security

• In Niger, on the night of 12 March 2023, a group of Non State Armed Groups (NSAG) attacked a village in Madarounfa, at the border with Nigeria in the region of Maradi (ERCC). One man died and four have been kidnapped. The victims are all internally displaced people (IDPs), except for one kidnapped man who is part of the hosting population.
• Violence against civilians in South Sudan rose by two per cent during 2022 (UN News), according to the latest annual report on Violence Affecting Civilians from the UN peacekeeping mission there, UNMISS.
• A specialized force must be deployed to urgently help Haitian authorities tackle a tsunami of gang violence (UN News), as rapes, sniper killings, and kidnappings become daily threats, the spokesperson for the UN rights chief said on Tuesday. In the first two weeks of March alone, clashes among gangs left at least 208 dead, 164 injured, and 101 kidnapped.
• Matamoros: a Symptom of Mexico’s Larger Illness (InSight Crime). The state of Tamaulipas may not top Mexico’s violence rankings, but the Gulf Cartel’s fragmentation is raising concerns.
• El Salvador Congress extends year-long anti-gang crackdown (Reuters in YAHOO!News). El Salvador’s Congress passed yet another extension suspending some constitutional rights in the Central American country’s year-long fight against gangs late Wednesday. El Salvador has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Last month, it opened a 40,000-person prison to relieve overpopulation as the crackdown is expected to continue.
• Routed through new hubs and expanded criminal networks, cocaine trafficking has made a dramatic comeback (UN News) following an initial slowdown caused by the emergence of COVID-19, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said on Thursday in a hard-hitting new report. While the cocaine market remains quite concentrated in the Americas and parts of Europe, the report warns that there is a strong potential for a large expansion in Africa and Asia.

Demonstrations

• Fury in France as protesters block roads following Macron’s forced-through pension reform (France 24). Riot police clashed with protesters on Friday evening in Paris and other cities as a new demonstration erupted against the French government’s moves to raise the country’s retirement age.

Road Safety

• At least 19 killed in bus accident in Bangladesh (Reuters). A speeding bus veered off a major expressway in central Bangladesh and plunged into a ditch, killing at least 19 people and injured dozens, police said.

Infrastructure

• France requisitions workers for refineries after two weeks of energy strikes (YAHOO!News). Several French refinery sites were still blocked from delivering products after two weeks of strikes in France, causing production to be disrupted while the government requisitions workers at the Fos refinery sparked scuffles with police.

Natural Disasters

• Heavy rainfall, associated to the passage of the tropical cyclone FREDDY and its remnants on 12-15 March (ERCC), affected southern Malawi, causing severe floods and triggering landslides. The death toll continues to increase across the country.
• Heavy rain, strong winds hail and thunderstorms affected Chiang Mai Province (northern Thailand) on 18 March (ERCC), causing floods and resulting in damage.
• Heavy rainfall, strong winds, thunderstorms and hailstorms have been affecting central India (in particular the Madhya Pradesh State) since 17 March (ERCC), causing a number of severe weather-related incidents (particularly due to lightning) that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Heavy rain has affected several municipalities of Ceará State (north-eastern Brazil) this past week (ERCC), causing floods, triggering landslides and leading to casualties and damage.
• On 18 March at 12:12 local time an 6.8 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 66 km hit the locality of Balao, in the province of Guayas (coastal area) in Ecuador (ERCC). The earthquake caused casualties, injuries, and damage.
• On 16 March, a heavy rainstorms swept through Northern Syria and the wider region (ERCC). In Northeast Syria, the consequent floods caused significant damages, the destruction of infrastructure and loss of livelihoods, leaving bridges and agricultural land damaged.

Health

• Since late February 2023, and as of 17 March 2023, 17 cases of botulism have been reported in various countries (ECDC): Germany (15 cases), Austria (one case), and Switzerland (one case). There were also in weeks prior 53 cases in Türkiye. All these cases had history of a recent medical procedure consisting of intragastric injection of botulinum neurotoxin for treating obesity in Türkiye.
• In 2023, and as of 9 March, 114 181 cases and 43 deaths of chikungunya virus disease have been reported (ECDC), globally. Of note, Paraguay reported a large increase in chikungunya virus disease cases, including a number of deaths, since the last update.
• As of 15 March 2023, Sweden has reported cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza type B virus infection associated with severe outcomes (ECDC) amongst children and adolescents with geographical proximity to one another. Complications include myocarditis and meningoencephalitis. Cases have been severe, requiring critical intensive care.
• Burundi announces first polio outbreak in more than 30 years (UN News) Health authorities in Burundi on Friday said that they had detected eight samples of polio, officially declaring the landlocked African nation’s first outbreak in more than 30 years.
• H5N1 avian flu found in UK dolphins, Swedish porpoise. In other avian flu developments, British officials report H5N1 detections in captive South America bush dogs and the US confirms more infections in poultry and mammals.
• Bird-flu virus makes itself at home in Canada’s foxes and skunks (Nature). The virulent H5N1 strain now sweeping across the world is adapting to its mammalian hosts in northern North America.
• Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Outbreak in New England Seals, United States (CDC EID) We report the spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) into marine mammals in the northeastern United States, coincident with H5N1 in sympatric wild birds.
• Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans ‘just in case’; rich nations lock in supplies (Reuters) Some of the world’s leading makers of flu vaccines say they could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps across the species divide.

Please note the publication date of this report and go to the direct sources linked for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.

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