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. 

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 

• Two women killed in stabbing attack in Czech Republic (EURO News) – The two women were reportedly employees of the shop where the attack happened and a 16-year-old youth has been detained for questioning by police. Two women have been killed in a knife attack at a shopping center in the Czech Republic, officials have said. 
• Israeli fire kills three Palestinians in West Bank refugee camp (Reuters) -Three Palestinians were killed on Wednesday by Israeli forces in the al-Faraa camp near Tubas in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported. Security forces told WAFA the three people were killed after the Israeli military fired bullets and shells at their home. 
• Ecuador will seek foreign military aid to combat drug cartels as violence surges (AP News) – Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Wednesday took another step in his effort to enlist foreign military assistance to combat the drug cartels and organized crime groups that have been behind the escalation in violent crime over the past four years. 
• Gunmen kill seven bus passengers in southwest Pakistan (Reuters) – Separatist gunmen shot dead seven passengers on a Lahore-bound bus in southwestern Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Tuesday after forcing them off the vehicle and checking their identity documents, officials said. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the biggest of several ethnic armed groups battling the central government, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the victims were all working for the military and its intelligence wing. 

Environment 

• Malaysia – Floods (ERCC) – Heavy rainfall has been affecting Peninsular Malaysia, in particular the southern states of Pahang and the neighboring Negeri Sembilan over the last 24 hours. As of 20 February, a total of 251 evacuated people, of which 150 evacuated people in one evacuation center across the Pahang state, and 101 evacuated people in one evacuation center in the Negeri Sembilan state. 
• Philippines – Severe weather (ERCC) – As of 19 February, seven fatalities, of whom six fatalities across the Palawan province and one more in the Oriental Mindoro province, both provinces in the MIMAROPA region. In addition, NDRRMC also reports 3,773 evacuated people – of which 546 across six evacuation centers – and a total of nearly 123,800 affected people across the aforementioned affected region. Moreover, 185 damaged houses and two damaged bridges were reported in the Mimaropa region. 
• South Africa – Wildfires (ERCC) – The fires started on Oaklands farm above the town of Wellington, about 75 km north-east of Cape Town. According to media, two cottages have been evacuated, one house and two hangars have been destroyed as well as several hectares of crops. Firefighters are still battling to control raging fires in the area. 
• Greece – Seismic activity (ERCC) – Morning of 19 February, a 4.2 M earthquake at a depth of 16 km occurred in the same area affected by the seismic swarms in the southern Aegean Sea. The epicenter was located 14 km south-west of Arkesini Amorgos and 226 km south-east of Athens. In the past 24 hours, more than 70 earthquakes have been registered.  

Health 

• ‘Beware of the bat’: how a mine in Kigali became the focus of Marburg virus research (The Guardian) – The 10,000-strong bat colony in this tunnel harbors a deadly virus, and last year workers carried it out along with the rocks they mined. Marburg virus disease killed 15 Rwandans in September and October 2024, infecting 51 more, and prompting international alerts. 

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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