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

• Burkina Faso – Conflict, displacements (ERCC). Between 15 and 21 May, several attacks by non-state armed groups killed more than 70 people in the Koulpélogo province along the Togo-Ghana border, as well as in the Kompienga province along the Benin -Togo border. The attacks in Koulpélogo alone have triggered the displacement of at least 7,000 individuals, which add to the already 2,062,534 internally displaced persons registered by the National Council for Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation as of March 31.
• Fresh fighting threatens Sudan’s week-long truce (Reuters). Sporadic clashes between Sudan’s army and a powerful paramilitary force spilled over into Thursday, puncturing the relative calm in the capital Khartoum and raising the risk that a week-long truce would crumble.

Infrastructure

• Charcoal cooking, week-long queues for gasoline: Fuel shortages slam Cuba’s countryside (AP). Cuba’s most recent fuel shortage has crippled an already fragile economy, but it is hitting rural villages particularly hard, with residents resorting to coal fires to cook their food, scrambling to find transport to take them to work and spending days — and nights — at the gas station waiting to fuel up.

Natural Disasters

• Afghanistan – Floods (ERCC). In the last few days, central Afghanistan has been affected by heavy rainfall that caused floods and resulted in casualties and damage.
• USA – Severe weather (ERCC). Severe weather, including strong winds, thunderstorms and heavy hailstorms, have been affecting eastern Texas (in particular the Montgomery County) since 23 May, causing some severe weather-related incidents (particularly due to the strong wind) that have resulted in casualties and damage.
• Guam’s strongest storm in decades leaves most residents without power (CNN). The governor urged residents of the U.S. territory to continue staying home yesterday while power was restored after Typhoon Mawar. 

Health

• Namibia declares outbreak of Crimean-Congo fever after patient dies (Reuters) in the capital Windhoek, the government said on Tuesday. The patient was suspected of having the virus when he was first treated at a clinic in the eastern city of Gobabis on May 16. He was later transferred to Windhoek Central Hospital, where he died on May 18, the Hea Ministry said in a statement. So far 27 contacts have been identified, of who 24 are health workers, it said.
• CDC: 2 dead of suspected cases of meningitis after surgeries in Mexico, over 200 patients at risk (AP News)Federal officials say more than 200 patients could be at risk of fungal meningitis after having surgical procedures at clinics in a Mexico border city.
• Cholera kills 17 in South Africa and a further 9 in neighboring Zimbabwe (Africa News). At least 17 people have died in a cholera outbreak in the Hammanskraal township outside South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, authorities said Wednesday.
• Cholera vaccine shortage to last until 2025 as cases surge, Gavi says (Reuters) as outbreaks surge worldwide, the global vaccine alliance said on Monday, days after the World Health Organization warned that the short-term outlook for controlling the disease was bleak. Cholera cases and deaths jumped last year as the deadly disease spread to new regions, particularly conflict zones and areas with high levels of poverty. In response, the World Health Organization and partners temporarily switched to using one dose of a vaccine that is normally given as two doses. But they still ran out last December. 
• Brazil declares 180-day animal health emergency amid avian flu cases in wild birds (Reuters) in response to the country’s first ever detection of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds, in a document signed by Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro. Infection by the H5N1 subtype of avian flu in wild birds does not trigger trade bans, based on guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health. However, a case of bird flu on a farm usually results in the entire flock being killed and can trigger trade restrictions from importing countries. 

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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