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

• 14 Malian soldiers killed by explosives in multiple attacks (AP). Coordinated attacks by Islamic extremists have killed 14 Malian soldiers and wounded nearly a dozen, the army said. Multiple improvised explosive devices detonated between Dia and Diafarabe villages as well as between Koumara and Macina towns in central Mali.
• Timely Recovery of IED Averts Major Tragedy in J-K’s Rajouri (CNN-News18). A massive search operation is underway in Rajouri following the recent terror strike in Dhangri village that left seven civilians dead and 14 injured
• Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan regions facing frequent attacks in northwest Pakistan (devdiscourse). The prime target of the attacks remained police and security forces in North and South Waziristan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan districts of the DIK and Bannu division, The News International newspaper reported.

Demonstrations

• UK trade union says 100,000 public sector workers to strike on Feb. 1 (Reuters). Britain’s Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said on Wednesday 100,000 of its members across 124 government departments would take strike action on Feb. 1 in a dispute over pay, pensions and job security.
• Bolivia’s farm hub battles political capital over cattle and grains (Reuters). Protests against the central government have seen buildings and cars burned, while blockades have prevented transport of food and grains from the key producing region, a bid by local leaders to pressure La Paz by squeezing domestic supply.
• Peru anti-government protests spread, with clashes in Cusco (AP News). Protests against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte’s government that have left 48 people dead since they began a month ago spread through the south of the Andean country on Wednesday with new clashes reported in the tourist city of Cusco.

Natural Disasters

• The city of Joshimath, in India’s Uttarakhand state is facing land subsidence (ERCC), the sinking of ground surface due to removal of sub-surface earth material. To date, 131 families have been shifted to the relief centres and cracks have occurred in 723 buildings.
• The Philippines continues to be affected by heavy rainfall and strong winds (ERCC), related to a shear line system (formed when cold and warm winds converge), resulting in widespread floods and landslides.

Health

• Ecuador reports human H5 avian flu case; China notes more H9N2 cases (CIDRAP). Ecuador’s health ministry reports the country’s first human infection involving H5 avian influenza. Meanwhile, China confirmed three more H9N2 avian flu cases in different provinces
• Genomic analysis of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) typhoid isolates in Pakistan revealed numerous XDR variants circulating in the country (CIDRAP). XDR typhoid is defined as resistant to all recommended antibiotics for typhoid fever. Typhoid is transmitted by contaminated food and water and person-to-person contact and tends to spread in areas with poor sanitation.
• WHO urges travellers to wear masks as new COVID variant spreads (Reuters) Countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks on long-haul flights, given the rapid spread of the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in the United States, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday. In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant was detected in small but growing numbers, WHO and Europe officials said at a press briefing. Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights, said the WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, adding: “this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread COVID-19 transmission”.
• Chinese fret over elderly as WHO warns of holiday COVID surge (Reuters). People in China worried on Thursday about spreading COVID-19 to aged relatives as they planned returns to their home towns for holidays that the World Health Organization warns could inflame a raging outbreak.

Humanitarian

• Since the beginning of the monsoon rain season in mid-June 2022 (ERCC), Pakistan has been affected by severe floods, flash floods, landslides and several severe weather-related incidents, that have resulted in a humanitarian emergency. The worst affected Provinces are Balochistan and Sindh (central-southern Pakistan).

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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