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Please note: the following outbreaks are real but provided as examples only, not for application.
| Date | Country | Outbreak | Comment | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23/12/01 | Congo | Ebola-Marburg virus disease | The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed an outbreak
of Ebola hemorrhagic fever among residents of villages near the
site of the current Ebola outbreak in Gabon. As of December 19,
2001, the Gabonese and Congolese Ministries of Health have reported
25 confirmed cases, 8 laboratory confirmed and 17 confirmed by
epidemiological criteria; 15 of these 25 case-patients have died.
Two further suspect cases are under investigation. Of the total number of confirmed cases (25), 14 were in Gabon and 11 were in Congo. Of the 15 deaths, 11 were in Gabon and 4 in Congo. The two suspected cases are in Gabon. A total of 227 contacts (133 Gabon, 94 Congo) have been identified and are under active followup. Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal viral hemorrhagic disease. Infection with Ebola virus in humans is incidental. The natural reservoir of the virus is unknown and the manner in which the virus first appears in a human at the start of an outbreak has not been determined. However, researchers have hypothesized that the first patient becomes infected through contact with an infected animal. After the first case-patient in an outbreak setting (often called the index case) is infected, the virus can be transmitted from person to person by contact with an infected person or an infected person's bodily fluids, or by contact with objects (for example, needles) contaminated with the virus. Such contact should be strictly avoided. U.S. government personnel in the affected region of Gabon have been instructed to leave the area. Travellers in Gabon and Congo are cautioned to avoid the affected regions of the countries if possible. Travellers to Gabon and Congo and all residents of northeastern Gabon and affected areas of Congo are advised to follow the previously mentioned health precautions and to monitor public health announcements from the Ministries of Health and WHO and follow their public health guidelines and recommendations. |
CDC | Outbreak |
| 23/12/01 | Dominican Republic | Polio | As of September 18, 2001, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of poliomyelitis resulting from a vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 outbreak in the Dominican Republic stood at 13 cases. Active surveillance and measures to control the outbreak are in place. | CDC | Update |
| 23/12/01 | Haiti | Polio | As of September 18, 2001, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of poliomyelitis resulting from a vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 outbreak in Haiti stood at 8 cases. Active surveillance and measures to control the outbreak are in place. | CDC | Update |
| 18/12/01 | Ethiopia | Meningococcal meningitis | WHO has received reports of 391 cases including 37 deaths
from 10 September until 10 December 2001. The majority of these
cases (307 including 16 deaths) have occurred in the Sidama Zone
of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR).
Within the Sidama Zone, the woredas of Dale and Sheedino are
the most severely affected. The Ethiopian Ministry of Health has provided 250 000 doses of vaccine for a mass vaccination campaign in the affected areas. |
WHO | Outbreak |
| 11/12/01 | Gabon | Ebola-Marburg virus disease | As of 11 December 2001, WHO has received reports of 12 suspected
cases, including 10 deaths from haemorrhagic fever. Laboratory
testing carried out at the Centre International de Recherches
Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Gabon has confirmed
Ebola virus in one sample from a recovering case in Ogooué
Ivindo Province. The Gabon Ministry of Health has established a national task force for managing the response to the epidemic. Gabon's first verified Ebola outbreak occurred in December 1994. Investigators studying the outbreak were told of unexplained deaths of great apes, gorillas and chimpanzees, but no dead animals were found. The outbreak ended six weeks later. Two other Ebola epidemics were confirmed in the spring and autumn of 1996. In early February, about 40 km south (seven hours by boat) from the 1994 outbreak, 13 people became ill after butchering a dead chimpanzee they had found. In October of that year, another Ebola epidemic was confirmed in the same general region and led to the introduction of the outbreak in South Africa where one person died. |
WHO | Update |
| 7/12/01 | Somalia | Meningococcal meningitis | Since 13 October 2001, 49 cases and 6 deaths have been reported to WHO in Hargersa town (estimated population: 300-400 000). Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A has been laboratory confirmed. | WHO | Outbreak |
| 5/12/01 | Gabon | Suspected viral haemorrhagic fever | On 4 December, WHO received reports of 7 deaths in an outbreak
of suspected viral haemorrhagic fever in Ogooué Ivindo
Province in the north-eastern part of the country. A preliminary field investigation is about to be implemented. |
WHO | Outbreak |
| 3/12/01 | Nigeria | Cholera | As of 26 November 2001, WHO has reported a total of 2 050 cases of cholera and 80 deaths in Kano State in Kano Metropolis. One hundred and twenty cases of cholera have also been reported in Jigawa State. WHO is working with the Federal Ministry of Health and a team from Kano State to investigate this outbreak. | WHO | Update |
| 27/11/01 | Nigeria | Cholera | As of 14 November 2001, Nigeria has reported a total of 724
cases and 52 deaths. The following areas have been affected:
AKWA Ibom State, Opkoso health district: 25 cases and 8 deaths. KWARA State, Bode Saadu : 124 cases and 16 deaths. KANO State, Kano Metropolis: 575 cases and 28 deaths. WHO has provided cholera kits and technical assistance for outbreak investigation and control. |
WHO | Outbreak |
| 22/11/01 | Bulgaria | Polio | Imported Wild Poliovirus Causing Poliomyelitis In March 2001, a 13-month-old unvaccinated Roma (i.e., gypsy) girl from Bourgas, Bulgaria, had onset of bilateral leg weakness. The National Enterovirus Laboratory in the capital city of Sofia subsequently isolated a wild type 1 poliovirus in the patient's stool. In April, a second case, with wild type 1 poliovirus isolate was found in Iambol located approximately 50 miles west of Bourgas in an unvaccinated 26-month-old Roma girl who had onset of paralysis of both legs. Subsequent analyses indicated that these viruses were related closely to a strain isolated from Uttar Pradesh, India, in July 2000. A third confirmed case with clinical and serologic evidence of poliomyelitis was diagnosed in a 3-month-old Roma boy in Bourgas who had onset of paralysis on May 7. To control the outbreak, a mass vaccination campaign of high-risk children was initiated on April 19 in the area of residence of case 1 and was expanded to the entire Bourgas district and the three neighboring districts of Iambol, Sliven, and Stara Zagora on April 27. During May 28--June 1 and June 25--29, 2001, a national campaign composed of two rounds with a goal of vaccinating all 468,720 children aged 0--6 years was conducted. Administrative coverage estimates suggested that 94% of all children in the country were vaccinated during the first round and 95% during the second. Because the initial contact investigations revealed that up to half of the children from high-risk groups were not vaccinated fully by the routine program, one additional round of mass vaccination was conducted during October for high-risk children aged 0--4 years; another round is scheduled for November. Editorial Note (abbreviated): This report describes the transmission for several months of a wild poliovirus imported into a country that had been free of polio for approximately 10 years. This outbreak of polio occurred because poliovirus was introduced into population subgroups with low immunity. The last indigenous wild poliovirus in the 51-country European Region (EUR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) occurred in November 1998 in Turkey. The last outbreak of polio in Bulgaria occurred in 1991 and involved 46 confirmed cases from the Roma community. Suboptimal immunity in the Roma population contributed to the 1991 and 2001 outbreaks. Population subgroups with lower vaccination coverage can sustain the circulation of wild polioviruses for several years within a country. High-risk communities are present in all European countries. As polio is eliminated, areas or population groups with lower immunity remain vulnerable to importation of wild poliovirus and subsequent transmission. High (immunisation) coverage reported for the campaign countrywide, improved performance of AFP surveillance, and the absence of wild polioviruses in subsequent stool surveys of high-risk children suggest that circulation of the wild virus has been interrupted. The investigations and interventions by the Bulgarian Ministry of Health exemplify an effective response to possible importation of poliovirus that is particularly useful as EUR prepares to certify eradication of polio. Until polio is eradicated, the risk for importation will persist in countries and areas free of polio. |
CDC | Outbreak |