WHO

On 13 October 2020, the French health authorities officially reported 13 laboratory-confirmed cases of Mayaro fever in French Guiana, France.

In September 2020, the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane (IPG) (member of the French National Reference Laboratory for arboviruses) identified two cases of Mayaro virus infection (MAYV) confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and one probable case found positive for Mayaro antibodies. The case-patients presented dengue-like symptoms and joint pains, and tested negative for dengue by RT-PCR.

On 30 September 2020, the French Guiana Regional Health Agency (ARS) reported the first detection of Oropouche virus (OROV) in French Guiana. On 22 September 2020 the Pasteur Institute in Cayenne (a member of the French National Reference Laboratory for arboviruses) notified the France IHR National Focal Point of seven laboratory-confirmed cases of Oropouche virus infection in the village of Saül. These cases were identified following clinical investigations of an unusually high number of dengue-like illnesses in the village. Between 11 August and 25 September, there were 37 clinically-compatible cases of Oropouche virus disease identified in Saül. The results of serology for dengue, chikungunya, and Zika were negative, and seven of nine cases tested positive for OROV by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Among the 37 clinically-compatible cases, most cases are male (60%) and the median age is 36 years (range 3-82 years). The most represented age range is 15 to 54-years-old (19 cases) followed by 0 to 14-years-old (10 cases). A peak of cases was observed in mid-September however, the outbreak investigation remains ongoing.

From 1 January through 13 September 2020, a total of 4,594 suspected cases of monkeypox, including 171 deaths (case fatality ratio 3.7%), have been reported in 127 health zones from 17 out of 26 provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The first epidemic peak was observed at the beginning of March 2020 (epi week 10), with 136 cases reported weekly (Figure1). From 1 January through 7 August, the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) received 80 samples from suspected cases of monkeypox, of which 39 samples were confirmed positive by polymerase chain reaction. Four out of the 80 specimens were skin lesions (crusts/vesicles), the remaining samples were blood. There is no further information at this time regarding the outcome of these 80 patients whose samples were tested. Confirmatory testing remains ongoing.

During the same period in 2019, 3,794 suspected cases and 73 deaths (CFR 1.9%) were reported in 120 health zones from 16 provinces while a total of 2,850 suspected cases (CFR 2.1%) were reported in 2018.

On 28 August 2020, the National IHR Focal Point of Chad notified WHO of an outbreak of chikungunya in Abéché, eastern Chad.

On 9 August 2020, the Federal Ministry of Health, Sudan notified WHO of the detection of a

On 23 July 2020, the France IHR National Focal Point reported a confirmed autochthonous (locally acquired) case of yellow fever in a 14-year-old male in French Guiana. On 17 July 2020, the case was laboratory confirmed at the French National Reference Centre for arboviruses, Institute Pasteur Cayenne.

The case-patient had severe disability, and developed dengue-like symptoms on 12 July. On 16 July, he was hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Cayenne, French Guiana, with consciousness disorders and acute liver failure, and died on 19 July.

The health zone of Rethy in Ituri province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has seen an upsurge of plague cases since June 2020. The first case, a 12-year-old girl, reported to a local health centre on 12 June experiencing a headache, fever, cough, and an enlarged lymph node. She died on the same day and further deaths from the community due to suspected cases of plague were subsequently reported.

From 11 June though 15 July, six out of 22 health areas have been affected within Rethy health zone (11 villages), with a total of 45 cases including nine deaths (case fatality rate: 20%). All nine (9) cases who died presented with signs of headache, high fever, and painful nodes; four (4) out of the nine (9) cases had cough.

On 22 June 2020, the International Health Regualtions (IHR) Focal Point (FP) of Brazil shared a preliminary report with the Panamerican Health Organization, the WHO Regional Office for the Americas of a human infection with Influenza A(H1N2) variant virus (A(H1N2)v). According to the report, the patient, a 22-year-old female, with no comorbidities, worked in a swine slaughterhouse in Ibiporã Municipality, Paraná State, and developed an influenza-like illness on 12 April 2020. The patient initially sought medical care on 14 April and a respiratory specimen was obtained on 16 April as part of routine surveillance activities. The patient was treated with oseltamivir, was not hospitalized and has recovered.

A real-time RT-PCR test conducted at the public health laboratory identified a non-subtypable influenza A virus. In May 2020, the specimen was forwarded to the Laboratory of Respiratory Virus and Measles, Oswaldo Cruz Institute (FIOCRUZ per its acronym in Portuguese), a national influenza reference laboratory, in Rio de Janeiro. On 22 June, genetic sequencing characterized this virus as an influenza A(H1N2)v virus.

On 15 April 2020, WHO received information regarding a confirmed case of yellow fever in Magandi village, Tchibanga city in Nyanga Province of southern Gabon, 590 km from the capital, Libreville.

The case is an 83-year-old male with no known vaccination history for yellow fever. He had onset of symptoms on 30 January 2020 and presented to a health facility on 2 February 2020 with abdominal pain and jaundice. Between 2 February and 9 April, he consulted the Urban Health Centre in Tchibanga, the Christian Alliance Hospital in Bongolo and the University hospital in the capital Libreville where the case received anti-malarial treatment and remained hospitalized until his death on 9 April 2020. On 14 April 2020, the laboratory results received from the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory at the Institute Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, confirmed yellow fever infection, by seroneutralisation test. The additional differential diagnostic tests performed were negative for dengue, West Nile fever, chikungunya, Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic fever, Zika and Rift Valley fever.

On 20 April 2020, WHO received information regarding a confirmed yellow fever case in Galangashie health area, located 30 km from Mango village, Oti district, Savanes region in the northern part of Togo.

The case is a 55-year-old woman with no vaccination history for yellow fever. She had onset of symptoms on 31 January 2020 and presented to a health facility on 3 February 2020 with fever and aches. The following day she developed jaundice and a blood sample was taken. On 7 February , the blood sample was transported to the national laboratory. On 10 February , the sample from the case was received at the national laboratory and test results on 17 March were Immunoglobulin M (IgM) positive for yellow fever. The positive yellow fever result was confirmed by the Institute Pasteur in Dakar Senegal, a yellow fever reference laboratory on 14 April 2020 by seroneutralisation.