The current outbreak of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that was first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019, has since then spread to several Asian nations, and as far afield as the United States, Europe and Australia. The coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which cause illnesses similar to influenza.
Mainland China reported another rise in cases early Monday as the number of deaths grew by 97, to 908. China’s health ministry said another 3,062 cases had been reported over the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese mainland’s total to at least 40,171. There have also been more than 300 confirmed cases outside China.
Developed nations like the UK are likely to be capable control the disease, in the short term at least, but that is not the case in the deprived but internationally linked mega-cities of Africa.
Some African governments has made considerable progress in preparing for an influenza pandemic. Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda among other countries have started implementing surveillance and screening at airports, especially for travellers arriving from Wuhan in China where the outbreak began in December.
Nurses have been stationed at airports to check for feverish passengers and have suspended Chinese entry visas, while ordinary people grow gradually nervy.
More than 5,000 African students that live in Wuhan, the centre of China’s coronavirus outbreak. Amid a mass quarantine, many have found themselves in a stressful situation, stranded, fearing they will not be able to leave China anytime soon.
Suspected Cases in Africa
Several poor African states have recently suffered disastrous viral outbreaks – and they’re keenly aware of the threat. The World Health Organisation has identified 13 high-risk African countries for coronavirus. They are Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
An epidemiologist and director of policy and advocacy for Nigeria Health Watch, Ifeanyi Nsofor, told SciDev.Net that one suspected case of the virus had been identified in Côte d’Ivoire. There is no country in Africa fully prepared to detect, prevent and respond to infectious disease outbreak, she said.
Four people suspected to have the virus have been put in isolation in Addis Ababa. Three of the people were students from universities in the Wuhan area. Two fever testing areas have been constructed at Bole International Airport and two hospitals in Addis Ababa remain on standby for potential cases, BBC stated in a report.
A Kenya Airways passenger who arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday (Jan.28) afternoon on a flight from Guangzhou displaying flu-like symptoms are the first suspected case of the Wuhan originating coronavirus in East Africa. The patient is now being quarantined at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, a report noted.
Public Health Emergency International Concern (PHEIC) Declaration by WHO
The Director-General of the WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) based on the advice of the Emergency Committee which met in Geneva, Switzerland earlier this month. The Emergency Committee recommended the following objectives to all countries:
- The organization is expected that further international exportation of cases may appear in any country. Thus, all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread of 2019-nCoVinfection, and to share full data with WHO. Technical advice is available on the WHO website.
- Countries are reminded that they are legally required to share information with WHO under the IHR.
- Any detection of 2019-nCoV in an animal (including information about the species, diagnostic tests, and relevant epidemiological information) should be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as an emerging disease.
- Countries should place particular emphasis on reducing human infection, prevention of secondary transmission and international spread, and contributing to the international response though multi-sectoral communication and collaboration and active participation in increasing knowledge on the virus and the disease, as well as advancing research.
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