Maiduguri, 18 August 2016 - The Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia has applauded the World Health Organization (WHO) for deploying an international surveillance and outbreak response (OBR) review team to Borno State. The team which is headed by Dr Arshad Quddus from WHO Headquarters in Geneva plans to assess the sensitivity of the surveillance system in the state and the quality of the OBR conducted for the last circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (cVDPV) case reported from the state in May, 2016.

Abuja, 18 August 2016 - The Honourable Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has declared the recent polio outbreak as a national public health emergency following the  report of two (2) wild polio virus (WPV) cases in Gwoza and Jere local government areas (LGAs) of Borno state last week after two (2) years without a single case.

Maiduguri, 17 August, 2016 - Immediate outbreak response (OBR) to recently detected wild polio viruses (WPV) in Borno State commenced on 15 August, 2016 with vaccination of children below five years of age in the two (2)  affected local government areas (LGAs) of Jere, Gwoza and three (3) surrounding LGAs of  Mafa, Maiduguri Municipal Council (MMC) and Bama.

Kinshasa, 17 August - A yellow fever preventive mass vaccination campaign was launched on Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Minister of Health Dr Felix Kabange Numbi. The vaccination will cover more than 10.5 million people in 32 health zones in Kinshasa province and an additional 15 health zones bordering Angola.

Abuja, 16 August, 2016 - An external surveillance team is in Nigeria to assess the sensitivity of the acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance system. The assessment team will work at the national level and selected states of Borno, Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto from 15 to 25 August, 2016. The team further intends to determine the potential source or reservoir of the recently detected wild polio viruses in Nigeria.

16 August 2016 – One of the largest emergency vaccination campaigns ever attempted in Africa will start in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo this week as WHO and partners work to curb a yellow fever outbreak that has killed more than 400 people and sickened thousands more. 

29 July 2016, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA | Dr. Akpaka Kalu, the newly appointed WHO Representative to Ethiopia, presented his credentials to  H.E. Dr Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on 29 July 2016.

H.E. Dr Tedros Adhanom gave Dr. Kalu a warm welcome and assured him of the Government's continued support as he accepted Dr. Kalu’s credential. “I wish you all the best and we will support you in any way possible to make your stay successful,” he said.

15 August 2016 - One of Africa's biggest-ever emergency vaccination campaigns starts this week in Democratic Republic of the Congo with the aim to protect millions of people against yellow fever before the rainy season begins in late September.

KINSHASA, 14 August 2016 -- Capacity-building and community engagement by district chief medical officers and community organizers in Kinshasa’s 32 health districts gathered pace on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 August in the city and province of Kinshasa, ahead of the planned launch of the mass yellow fever preventive immunization campaign in Kinshasa on Tuesd

Abuja, 12 August, 2016 - With improved surveillance among recently accessible populations of Borno State, Nigeria has identified two (2) wild poliovirus (WPV) cases, the first to be detected since July 2014.

Addressing partners and stakeholders on 11 August, 2016, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, confirmed that two children have been paralyzed in Gwoza and Jere local government areas (LGAs) of Borno State. The isolated viruses are linked to a virus last detected in Borno in 2011.