THIS LEAFLET AIMS AT GUIDING YOU THROUGH THE VERY FIRST DAYS OF AN OUTBREAK
Main Points
The delivery of humanitarian assistance is expected to slow down significantly over the next seven to ten days in anticipation of the electoral process and limited availability of transport and security assets.
The percentage of extremely food-insecure people who have recei...ved food assistance increased to 65 per cent, as 520,000 people of the targeted 806,000 have now been reached.
Health partners have expressed concern over growing evidence of a spike in cases of severe acute malnutrition in hard-to-reach areas in the Sud region.
Cholera response partners are optimistic that the vaccination campaign of 8 to 15 November will contribute to reducing transmission in Sud and rand’Anse and the risk of a future outbreak
more
This leaflet aims at guiding health workers though the very first days of an outbreak. It addresses the following questions:
Is this the beginning of an outbreak?
Is the patient suffering from cholera or shigella?
The leaflet also has sections on how to protect the community, how to ...treat patients and what to do if an outbreak is suspected.
more
This leaflet aims at guiding health workers though the very first days of an outbreak. It addresses the following questions:
Is this the beginning of an outbreak?
Is the patient suffering from cholera or shigella?
The leaflet also has sections on how to protect the community, how to t...reat patients and what to do if an outbreak is suspected.
more
A training manual for identifying, assessing, preventing and controlling the risks of pandemics in the workplace. This training manual has been developed for both medical and non-medical personnel who may be called upon to lead emergency response, (eg epidemic outbreak, etc), ensure effective conta...inment whiles work continues and essential goods and services continue to be supplied.
The manual provides insight into some of the local epidemics experienced in Ghana such as Cholera, Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) and Influenza(s), the causes, signs and symptoms and preventive measures with a view to increasing knowledge among management, staff and their families as well as immediate communities within which they work.
more
This review of the IFRC support to the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society response to the 2012 cholera outbreak provides ideas and concepts to promote a more coherent and evidence based rationale on how to make more effective use of IFRC global assets to stop, control, mitigate and respond to cholera ep...idemics. No fit and healthy person should die from cholera – that should be the indicator of success.
more
The report offers 20 top recommendations for getting ahead of future outbreaks in Yemen and similarly complex humanitarian settings.
In 2015, Yemen was declared a Level 3 emergency by the UN, kicking into gear the highest level of humanitarian support. A massive cholera outbreak followed, leading t...o 1 million suspected cases in 2 waves from September 2016-July 2018.
“We largely know ‘what to do’ to control cholera, but context-specific practices on ‘how to do it’ in order to surmount challenges to coordination, logistics, insecurity, access and politics remain needed,” the report states.
While the response improved between the 2 waves, there were gaps. For one, Yemen’s history of cholera should have triggered a heavy focus on pre-planning for an epidemic, such as stockpiling supplies and doubling down on community-based surveillance, the report fou
more
For several years, agencies supporting preparedness and response to cholera outbreaks have supplied medicines and medical devices through the Interagency Diarrhoeal Disease Kits (IDDK).
In an effort to better align the presentation and content of the kits to field needs, the composition of the ch...olera kits has been reviewed by WHO and its partners in 2015 and again in 2020. The content of all modules have been slightly revised with no changes except for the cholera laboratory check list.
The revised cholera kits 2020 are designed to help prepare for a potential cholera outbreak and to support the first month of the initial response for 100 cases. The overall package consists of six different kits, each divided in several modules.
more
In January 2018, over 10,000 people fled their homes following clashes reported in multiple locations in Jonglei, including Yuai, Pultruk, Payai, Kuer-nyuon, Pieri, Waat and Walgak. Some crossed to
Ethiopia, where 2,300 people registered as refugees in the Gambela region. There were several report...s of people returning from displacement camps and refugee settlements in Uganda to locations in
Central Equatoria, including Lainya, Kajo-keji, Morobo and Yei, as well as reports of movement from Sudan to Bentiu, Unity. However, partners are working to verify these reports; population movements
remain difficult to track and patterns hard to discern. About 5.1 million people were estimated to be severely food insecure between January and March 2018, including 20,000 who are facing catastrophic conditions. According to assessments conducted in January in the Baggari area, Wau County, malnutrition has improved compared to the same period last year, with surveys showing GAM rates of
about 2.8 per cent in Mboro and 3.6 per cent in Farajallah. Last year, Baggari was among locations which surpassed the WHO emergency threshold of 15 percent of the population malnourished. In
January, there were no new reports of cholera cases in South Sudan, marking a continued decline in the outbreak that was declared in June 2016.
more
In this review, the editors will investigate the impact of eight WASH interventions in preventing (reducing the risk of) and controlling outbreaks in LMIC, with particular focus on three diseases of current concern to the response community – cholera, Ebola, and Hepatitis E. Additionally, we will ...explore economic outcomes related to WASH interventions within an outbreak
more
In 2016 WHO introduced the Cholera Kits. These kits replace the Interagency Diarrhoeal Disease Kit (IDDK) which had been used for many years. The Cholera Kit is designed to be flexible and adaptable for preparedness and outbreak response in different contexts. The overall Cholera Kit is made up of a...n Investigation Kit, Laboratory materials, 3 Treatment Kits (community, periphery and central) and a Hardware Kit. The Treatment and Hardware Kits are each composed of individual modules. Each of the kits and modules can be ordered independently based on field need. To support orders, a Cholera Kit Calculation Tool was developed.
The information note, packing lists and the Kit Calculation Tool are all available from the WHO website at: http://www.who.int/cholera/kit/en/
more
This leaflet aims at guiding health workers though the very first days of an outbreak. It addresses the following questions:
Is this the beginning of an outbreak?
Is the patient suffering from cholera or shigella?
The leaflet also has sections on how to protect the community, how to ...treat patients and what to do if an outbreak is suspected.
more
This leaflet aims at guiding health workers though the very first days of an outbreak. It addresses the following questions:
Is this the beginning of an outbreak?
Is the patient suffering from cholera or shigella?
The leaflet also has sections on how to protect the community, how to t...reat patients and what to do if an outbreak is suspected.
more
The Story of Cholera is seen as a great tool to promote basic hygiene practices and has been narrated in Arabic to be shown in these Settlements. It is seen as both a prevention measure against potential cholera outbreak and/or other type of diarrheal diseases. Tested on site it has received a great... welcome from the refugee community and is expected to have a major impact in the hygiene promotion response.
Download flashcards, video and mobile phone version at: http://globalhealthmedia.org/story-of-cholera/videos/registration/
more
The official death toll had risen to 493 people as of 29 March, according to the Government.
A new cholera outbreak was reported in Nhamatande; nine Cholera Treatment Centres have been established in Beira and other locations.
More than 140,000 people were displaced in 161 sites across Sofala (116... sites), Manica (27 sites), Zambezia (13 sites) Tete (5 sites); of whom more than 7,400 were identified as vulnerable, according to the Government.
more
On September 10, 2022, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced a cholera outbreak in Aleppo governorate with 15 laboratory confirmed cases reported between August 25 and September 9, 2022. Activities under this plan seek to address the immediate needs stemming from this outbreak and highlight respons...e priorities across all areas of the response and key sectors involved. This plan initially focuses on the Health, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) responses for an initial period of 90 days. The activities detailed in this plan are also within the programmatic scope of the 2022-2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).
more
Infection prevention and control (IPC) in a CTC/ CTU IPC are all practical measures taken in the healthcare facility to prevent harm caused by infections to patients, health workers and communities.
The main goal of IPC in the cholera response is to
• To reduce transmission of health care-as...sociated infections of cholera and any other infectious disease
• To enhance the safety of staff, patients and visitors
• To enhance the ability of the organization/health care facility to respond to an outbreak
• To reduce the risk of the hospital (health care facility) itself amplifying the outbreak
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
WASH are all measures taken to guarantee environmental hygiene, safe water of all used within the health facility. It encompasses water, sanitation, waste management, cleaning within the health facility which in this case is CTU/C. A complete WASH package in the CTU/CTC reduces the risk of spread of Vibrio cholerae inside and outside the CTC/CTU.
The probability of spreading or acquiring cholera through a CTC/CTU can be highly reduced when proper IPC and WASH measures are respected, followed and monitored. These measures are, in principle, valid in CTC/CTUs and ORPs, although they need to be adapted to the specific characteristics of the facility concerned.
more
Cholera is a transmissible diarrhoeal infection caused by Vibrio cholerae. Endemic and/or epidemic in over 40 countries (mainly in Africa and Asia), cholera continues to be a major global public health issue.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the number of cases reported worldwid...e represents in reality only 5 to 10% of actual cases.
This guide is intended for medical and non-medical staff responding to a cholera outbreak. It attempts to provide concrete answers to the questions and problems faced by staff, based on the recommendations of reference organisations, such as WHO and UNICEF, as well as Médecins Sans Frontières’ experience in the field.
It is divided into 8 chapters. Chapter 1, Cholera overview, outlines the epidemiological and clinical features of cholera. Chapter 2, Outbreak investigation, explains the method and stages of a field investigation, from the alert to implementation of initial activities. Chapter 3, Cholera control measures, details measures and tools to prevent and/or control cholera transmission and mortality in populations affected, or at risk of being affected, by an epidemic (curative care, prevention means and health promotion activities). Chapter 4, Strategies for epidemic response, addresses the roll-out strategies of the measures described in Chapter 3 which depend on context (e.g. urban, rural, endemic, non-endemic setting, etc.), resources and particular constraints. Chapter 5, Cholera case management, details the different stages of cholera treatment, from diagnosis through to cure.
Chapter 6, Setting up cholera treatment facilities, focuses on the installation of treatment facilities that vary in size and complexity according to operational requirements (treatment centres and units and oral rehydration points). Chapter 7, Organisation of cholera treatment facilities, describes the organisation of these specialized facilities in terms of human resources, supply, water, hygiene and sanitation, etc. Chapter 8, Monitoring and evaluation, presents the key data to be collected and analysed during an epidemic to facilitate a tailored response and evaluate its quality and effectiveness.
The guide includes various practical tools in the appendices to facilitate activities (e.g. water quality tests, job descriptions, documents, etc.). Moreover, the toolbox also contains additional tools in editable formats (individual patient file, cholera case register, pictograms).
Despite all efforts, it is possible that certain errors may have been overlooked in this guide. Please inform the authors of any errors detected.
To ensure that this guide continues to evolve while remaining adapted to field realities, please send any comments or suggestions.
more
Ethiopia has been repeatedly affected by conflict, flooding, drought, and disease outbreaks in the past years. As of January 2024, the country is actively responding to the longest recorded cholera outbreak which started in August 2022, recurrent measles outbreaks which started in August 2021, and t...he highest number of malaria cases reported since 2017. The El Niño phenomenon is expected to cause further havoc up to July 2024, by causing drought in some parts of the country, and flooding in others. Food insecurity due to lost harvest and livestock is aggravating already high malnutrition rates, negatively impacting morbidity and mortality.
The Health Cluster is closely collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to prepare for, prevent, and respond to public health emergencies by mobilizing resources to enable health partners to provide life-saving health services to vulnerable populations.
In an environment with ever-increasing needs and decreased funding, the below priorities for 2024 and 2025 have been identified: 1 Strengthen advocacy for longer-term, development funding to address root causes of recurrent disease outbreaks, including through the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus 2 Advocate for increased access to quality health services, with a strong focus on:
sexual and reproductive health services (including for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence)
inclusion of people with disabilities, older people, and people living with HIV
remote populations through inclusion of Mobile Health Teams (MHT) as part of the health system 3 Standardize health services provided by Health Cluster partners through the implementation of Essential Health Care packages, aligned with existing MOH guidance, aimed at ensuring quality service delivery for affected populations, especially at community level 4 Strengthen quality of, and access to data for needs analysis and informed decision-making 5 Strengthen subnational coordination, with increased focus on zones and local health partners
more