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. 

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. 

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. 

Security 

• Haiti gang leader killed as transition council nears completion (Reuters).  Attacks, including a shooting that left a gang leader dead, flared in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on Thursday as political groups appeared nearer to finalizing a transition council to take over from an absent government. 
• At least 40 fires set in night of arson across Thailand’s south (Reuters). Attackers set fire to shops, cars and utility poles in at least 40 locations across Thailand’s deep south in the early hours of Friday, authorities said, killing at least one person in a coordinated wave of arson. 
• France raises terror alert after Moscow theater attack (Deutsche Welle). France is increasing armed patrols after an “Islamic State” (IS) affiliate claimed an attack that killed over 130 in Moscow. IS has carried out multiple attacks in France, including on the Bataclan theater in 2015.
• 3 men in Armenia attempt to storm Yerevan police station and 2 are injured by their own grenades (The Associated Press). Three men were charged with terror offences Sunday after attempting to storm a police station in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, detonating hand grenades that injured two of the attackers, an internal affairs ministry official said.
• Ecuador’s youngest mayor found shot to death alongside staffer (Reuters). Ecuador’s youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and a staffer were found shot dead in a car early on Sunday, said police in the South American country, which is in the grips of a wave of violence that authorities blame on drug trafficking.
• Chinese coast guard hits Philippine boat with water cannons in disputed sea, causing injuries (AP). Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine supply boat with water cannons Saturday in the latest confrontation near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, causing injuries to its navy crew members and heavy damage to the wooden vessel, Philippine officials said.

Russia Concert Attack 

• Putin vows to punish those behind Russia concert massacre (Reuters). Russia said on Saturday it had arrested all four gunmen suspected of carrying out a shooting massacre in a concert hall near Moscow, and President Vladimir Putin pledged to track down and punish those behind the attack. 
• Moscow concert attack survivors describe nightmare of fear and death (Reuters). The four armed men walked calmly towards the metal detectors at Crocus City Hall, firing their automatic weapons point-blank in short bursts at terrified civilians who fell screaming in a hail of bullets. 

Demonstrations

• India opposition members detained after arrest of Delhi leader Kejriwal (Reuters). Dozens of members of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were detained in New Delhi and sporadic protests erupted elsewhere across India on Friday against the arrest of AAP’s top leader for graft, weeks before general elections. 
• South Korea’s medical professors join protests, reduce hours in practice (Reuters). Medical professors in South Korea said they will cut back on the hours they spend in practice starting on Monday to support trainee doctors on strike for more than a month over a government plan to boost medical school admissions.
• Protests against arrest of one of top rivals of Indian Prime Minister Modi continue for second day (AP). Hundreds of protesters in India’s capital took to the streets for a second day Saturday, demanding the immediate release of one of the top rivals of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the country gears up for a national election next month.

Infrastructure

• Russia stages major airstrike on Ukraine; one missile enters Polish airspace (Reuters). Russia struck critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s western region of Lviv with missiles early on Sunday, Kyiv said, in a major airstrike that saw one Russian cruise missile briefly fly into Polish airspace according to Warsaw. 
• Israel approves new parcel of West Bank land for settlement (Reuters). Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Friday declared 800 hectares in the occupied West Bank as state land, in a move that will facilitate the use of the ground for settlement building despite growing international opposition.

Environment

• Afghanistan – Flash floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has affected western Afghanistan, since 20 March, causing floods, flash floods and severe weather-related incidents that resulted in casualties and damage. 
• Indonesia – Floods (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting central Indonesia, in particular the Central Java Province since 20 March, causing floods that have resulted in damage. The Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) reports, as of 21 March, a total of approximately 16,100 affected people and around 4,100 flooded buildings, including 15 schools and one health facility, across the Tegal City, Central Java Province. 
• Uruguay – Floods and landslides (ERCC). Heavy rainfall continues to affect several parts of Uruguay, with Florida, San Jose and Colonia as the most affected Departments, causing floods and landslides that resulted in evacuations and damage. Uruguay – Thousands Evacuate as River Reaches Record High in Florida Department(Floodlist). Six temporary evacuation centres have been set up to house those displaced. The hardest hit areas are in the city of Florida, departmental capital. 
• Indonesia – Earthquake (ERCC). An earthquake of 6.4 M at a depth of 8.5 km occurred in the Java Sea, northern Java Island on 22 March at 8.52 UTC (at 15.52 local time). The epicentre was located 111 km north of Paciran sub-district, in Lamongan Regency in East Java Province. Orange earthquake alert (Magnitude 6.4M, Depth:8.498km) in Indonesia 22/03/2024 08:52 UTC, (GDACS). On 3/22/2024 8:52:58 AM, an earthquake occurred in Indonesia potentially affecting 30 thousand (in MMI>=VII). The earthquake had Magnitude 6.4M, Depth:8.498km.
• Papua New Guinea – Earthquake (ERCC). An earthquake of 6.9 M at a depth of 40 km occurred in Papua New Guinea on 23 March at 20.22 UTC (24 March at 6.22 local time). The epicentre was located 38 km north of Ambunti Town, in East Sepik Province, western Papua New Guinea. Red earthquake alert (Magnitude 6.9M, Depth:40.151km) in Papua New Guinea 23/03/2024 20:22 UTC (GDACS). On 3/23/2024 8:22:04 PM, an earthquake occurred in Papua New Guinea potentially affecting 180 thousand (in MMI>=VII). The earthquake had Magnitude 6.9M, Depth:40.151km. 
• Cuba – Severe weather (ERCC). Heavy rainfall and heavy hailstorms have been affecting western Cuba in particular the La Habana, Artemisa and Mayabeque Provinces since 23 March, causing floods, rivers overflow, landslides and a number of severe weather-related incidents that have resulted in population evacuation and damage. 
• Brazil – Floods and landslides (ERCC). Heavy rainfall has been affecting south-eastern Brazil, in particular the Espirito Santo State and the neighbouring Rio de Janeiro State over the last 72 hours, causing floods and triggering landslides that have resulted in casualties and severe damage. 
• Switzerland – Snow avalanche (ERCC). A huge snow avalanche occurred in the Grisons Canton, eastern Switzerland on 23 March, causing casualties. 

Health

• Toronto Public Health urges people to get vaccinated against mpox amidst rising cases (CBC). Toronto Public Health (TPH) is advising people to get vaccinated against mpox amidst an increase in confirmed cases of the virus in the city this year.  
• DR Congo mpox outbreak expands, becomes deadlier (CIDRAP). An mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that began in 2023 has expanded to 23 of the country’s 26 provinces, including Kinshasa, with children the most affected group, officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) said today at a media briefing in Geneva.  
• Brazil to release millions of anti-dengue mosquitoes as death toll from outbreak mounts (The Guardian). A dengue-fighting strategy that involves releasing bacteria-infected mosquitoes will be rolled out to six Brazilian cities in the coming months as the country battles a severe outbreak of dengue fever, a viral disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. 
• Person-to-person SFTS spread in Japan (CIDRAP).  Japan’s Institute for Infectious Disease yesterday reported the country’s first known case of human-to-human transmission of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), a disease primarily spread by ticks but in very rare instances has spread from infected animals or people. 
• Chikungunya and dengue – Multi-country (World) – Monitoring global outbreaks – Monthly update (ECDC).  In 2024, approximately 70 000 chikungunya virus disease (CHIKVD) cases and 15 chikvd-related deaths; and over two million dengue cases and over 500 dengue-related deaths have been reported globally.
• Cholera – Comoros and Mayotte – 2024 (ECDC). On 19 March 2024, the prefect of Mayotte reported the first imported confirmed case of cholera in the French territory of Mayotte, increasing the risk of community transmission in the island from moderate to high. Since the last available update on 13 March and as of 17 March, 92 new cholera cases have been reported in Comoros.
• Vietnam probes human H5 avian flu case (CIDRAP). Health officials in Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa province have confirmed an H5 avian flu infection in a 21-year-old university student, though there are no details yet on the strain or how the patient contracted the virus. 
• Polio in Pakistan (CIDRAP). Pakistan reported two wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases this week, marking its first of 2024. Both patients experienced paralysis onset in February and are from Balochistan province, which has been one of the country’s hot spots, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said in its latest weekly update. 
• The world’s 100 worst polluted cities are in Asia — and 83 of them are in just one country (CNN). The vast majority of these cities — 83 — were in India and all exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by more than 10 times, according to the report by IQAir, which tracks air quality worldwide.   
• Impact of climate change and natural disasters on fungal infections (The Lancet). Climate change is creating conditions conducive to the emergence of new fungal pathogens and is priming fungi to adapt to previously inhospitable environments, such as polluted habitats and urban areas, leading to the geographical spread of some fungi to traditionally non-endemic areas. Climate change is also contributing to increases in the frequency and severity of natural disasters, which can trigger outbreaks of fungal diseases and increase the spread of fungal pathogens.

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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