012121 – World Health Report

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

Please note the revision date (mmddyy) of this report, printed on the title of the post, and go to the direct sources listed for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.

Health

• Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland * Communicable disease threats report, 10-16 January 2021, week 2 * Measles. Update of the week. Since the previous monthly measles update in ECDC’s Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) on 11 December 2020, three new cases have been reported by one country in EU/EEA: Germany (+3). In addition, according to TESSy in January-November 2020, Belgium reported two additional cases (overall 66 cases) and Ireland one case (overall 24 cases). Other countries did not report new cases of measles. So far, in 2021, no new deaths have been reported by EU/EEA. Overall, in 2020, two deaths have been reported in the EU/EEA and the UK, both from Bulgaria. Relevant updates outside the EU/EEA are available for the WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) and WHO Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
• Europe * Communicable disease threats report, 10-16 January 2021, week 2 * Influenza. Update of the week. Influenza activity remained at interseasonal levels. Of 872 specimens tested for influenza in week 1/2021, from patients presenting with ILI or ARI symptoms to sentinel primary healthcare sites, none were positive for an influenza virus. Influenza viruses were detected sporadically from non-sentinel sources (such as hospitals, schools, primary care facilities not involved in sentinel surveillance, or nursing homes and other institutions). Both influenza type A and type B viruses were detected. There were no hospitalised laboratory-confirmed influenza cases reported for week 1/2021. The influenza season in the European Region has usually been designated as having started by this point in the year but, despite widespread and regular testing for influenza, reported influenza activity still remains at a very low level. The start of the influenza season is usually observed at this point of the year, so it is unusual that for this season there is still very low influenza activity reported. The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected healthcare seeking behaviour, healthcare provision, and testing practices and capacities in countries and areas of the European Region and this has had a negative impact on the reporting of influenza epidemiological and virological data during the 2020-2021 season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the influenza data we present will need to be interpreted with caution, particularly in terms of seasonal patterns.
• France * Communicable disease threats report, 10-16 January 2021, week 2 * Lyssavirus infection. Update of the week. France reported a human case of lyssavirus infection with the European Bat Lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1). The case died in 2019 and the post-mortem diagnosis was done through metagenomics analysis as part of a research study.
• Saudi Arabia * Communicable disease threats report, 10-16 January 2021, week 2 * Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Update of the week. Since the previous CDTR published on the 4 December 2020 and as of 12 January 2021, three additional cases of MERS-CoV have been reported by the Saudi Arabian health authorities.

Please note the revision date (mmddyy) of this report, printed on the title of the post, and go to the direct sources listed for the most up-to-date information.  The information in this report may change without prior notice.