Further infections with H5N1 avian influenza virus continue to be reported in various mammals, including marine mammals in US and UK. Although only a few isolated cases have occurred in humans (through contact with birds), the mammalian infections are being watched closely.
COVID-19 rates continue to be a mixed picture, rising recently in some areas while falling in other regions. Several countries have announced the end of pre-travel COVID-19 testing requirements for travellers from China, including USA, Canada, UK, Japan and Australia. Just over half of global sequences of SARS-CoV-2 are the XBB.1.5 subvariant, while XBB.1.9.1 and XBB.1.9.2 currently make up around 12%. There are some further subvariants (EG.1, XBB.1.16, and XBL) whose significance is not yet clear due to low prevalence so far.
Mpox update fronm WHO is available at https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/multi-country-outbreak-of-mpox--external-situation-report---17---2-march-2023 Since 16 February 2023, there have been just 323 new mpox cases (0.4% increase in total cases) and 11 new related deaths. The latest epidemiological data suggests the outbreak is heading towards an end in the European Region, and slowing down in the Region of the Americas where human-to-human transmission occurs.
Local sources reported another death from Nipah virus in Bangladesh, two weeks after a family member died.
Following the confirmed Marburg virus cases in Equatorial Guinea there were suspected cases in Cameroon, and nearby Gabon was reportedly making contingency plans.
A mystery communicable illness in Tanzania has also have killed five people, health authorities reported, soon after the Ebola outbreak in nearby Uganda.
Also some headline notes: Chikungunya in Paraguay; Measles outbreaks in South Africa and Nepal; Intense dengue season in parts of Central and South America, and a locally transmitted case in Ibiza Spain causing concern; Increased cholera infections in Malawi and Mozambique following the flooding and other effects of the recent cyclone Freddy. Cholera also in South Sudan. Adenovirus infections in India. Vaccine-derived polio cases in Burundi and DRC.
David Powell
IATA Medical Advisor