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 

• Congo and rebels trade blame for deadly blasts at rally (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo’s government and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels traded blame on Friday for explosions at a rally in the rebel-held eastern city of Bukavu that killed 13 people and wounded scores. The finger-pointing over Thursday’s incident has further inflamed tensions in eastern Congo, where a rebel advance this year has drawn in neighboring armies, raising fears of a regional war. 
• Syria forces deploy in Damascus suburb after deadly unrest (ARAB News) – Authorities vowed to arrest those involved in Friday’s killing of a defense ministry employee at a checkpoint. Another person was killed in clashes on Saturday and nine more wounded 
• One dead in Israel stabbing attack, assailant ‘killed’ (ARAB News) – A stabbing attack at a transport station in the Israeli city of Haifa left one person dead and several wounded on Monday, medics said, in what police called a “terror attack” whose perpetrator was killed. 
• At least 37 dead after two passenger buses collide in Bolivia (AP News) – At least 37 people have died and another 39 were injured when two buses collided on a rural roadway early Saturday in southwest Bolivia, police said. The accident took place at 7:00 a.m. local time a few kilometers from Uyuni, the gateway to the Salar de Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world’s largest salt flat at more than 10,000 square kilometers. 

Infrastructure 

• Power largely back after outage hit Honduras (Reuters) – Power was largely back in Honduras early Saturday afternoon, after a blackout struck the country earlier, Ministry of Energy Erick Tejada said. The national power disruption affected Honduras with a total blackout in the control area of the country, the Central American electricity market supervisor EOR said. 

Environment 

• India – Snow avalanche (ERCC) – On 28 February, a snow avalanche occurred in Mana village of the district of Chamoli in Uttarakhand State, in northern India resulting in casualties. As of 2 March, eight people died and 46 have been injured, with a total of 173 affected people due to a snow avalanche, that hit a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) project site in Mana village. National authorities deployed 200 personnel for search and rescue operations. 
• Ecuador – Severe weather and floods (ERCC) – As of 2 March, At least 11 fatalities, nine injured people, 2,092 displaced people and more than 66,000 affected people across 23 out of 24 provinces in Ecuador, with Esmeraldas, Manabí, Guayas, Santa Elena, Santo Domingo, Los Ríos and El Salvador as the most affected. In addition, more than 17,000 homes have been damaged, and 40 have been destroyed. 
• Dozens found alive in metal containers after India avalanche (BBC) – Dozens of construction workers have been pulled out alive from metal containers after they were buried by an avalanche in the Himalayas in India’s Uttarakhand state. They survived – some as long as nearly two days – as the containers in which they were living had enough oxygen to sustain them until rescuers could dig them out, Indian media reported quoting officials. 
• Thousands evacuated as Japan’s biggest fire in decades continues to burn (BBC) – Japan has deployed more than 2,000 firefighters to battle the country’s biggest forest fire in three decades. At least one person has died in the blaze, which has torched more than 5,200 acres around the northern Japanese city of Ofunato since Thursday, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA). 

Health 

• Uganda – Ebola outbreak (ERCC) – On 1 March, the Ugandan Ministry of Health announced one new confirmed case after a four year old child died on 25 February in Kampala. This is the tenth case and second death since the MoH announced the outbreak on 30 January. The case fatality rate is currently at 20%. Active search is ongoing and over 200 contacts have been listed and are being quarantined. Report seems to indicate that most of the listed cases are health workers. 
• Sudan – Cholera outbreak, attacks on civilians (ERCC) – Sudan’s Ministry of Health reported a surge in cholera cases in White Nile State over the past week, with 1,640 cases recorded and 63 related deaths. The outbreak is believed to be connected to riverine water, as a major power outage following attacks on power plants on 16 February disrupted the water supply in the localities of Kosti and Rabak in the White Nile State, forcing many families to collect untreated water from the White Nile River. WFP had planned to support 120,000 people in Zamzam, but so far only around 60,000 people have received assistance. 

Humanitarian 

• Clean water lifeline for around 364,000 children a day in Goma (UN News) – The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are providing lifesaving clean water supplies to 700,000 people a day – around 364,000 of them children – in the regional capital Goma after breaks in the water supply due to the uptick in fighting. 

Migration 

• Thailand – New refugee influx from Myanmar (ERCC) – On 27 February 2025, fighting broke out between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Myanmar forces, involving drone attacks. As a result, approximately 463 people fled from Myanmar into Thailand, specifically to Tha Song Yang. The number is expected to increase since new arrivals continue to flee, with more reported on 2 March 2025. The Thai government has established a Temporary Designated Area (TDA). 

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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