That’s because, the World Health Organisation (WHO) then said, for an infection to be declared as airborne it was important that the microbes (in this case the SARS-CoV-2 virus) within the droplet nuclei stayed viable in the air for long periods of time and be transmitted to others over distances greater than 1 metre.
The A (H5N1) strain has become a global zoonotic animal pandemic, Farrar noted, emphasizing the risk of the virus evolving to infect humans and transmit among them. While human-to-human transmission hasn't been observed, mortality rates among those infected through animal contact are high.
This alarming trend was observed in data shared by nearly 50 countries, predominantly in Europe and the Americas. "Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable," Ghebreyesus said, emphasizing the ongoing threat posed by the virus. He expressed certainty that Covid-19 cases are rising in regions that have not been reporting their data.
The World Health Organization said it led missions to barely functioning hospitals in northern Gaza at the weekend, describing growing desperation and starving people stripping an aid truck of supplies.
The Marburg virus is a highly dangerous pathogen that causes severe fever, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure. It is part of the so-called filovirus family that also includes the Ebola virus, which has wreaked havoc in several previous outbreaks in Africa.
"These consultations are continuing as we enhance our work to encourage the multiple stakeholders to prevent, detect and respond to more incidents. WHO is reviewing existing guidance with a view to making any enhancements in case this is required. The associations' and industry involvement support is considered key," the WHO spokesperson said in an email response to ET.
We're witnessing an unprecedented convergence of crises that demands an unprecedented response : WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
ICG manages a global stockpile of oral cholera vaccines, but of the 36 million doses forecast to be produced this year, 24 million have already been shipped for preventive and reactive campaigns.
In its pandemic report, WHO said COVID-19 deaths dropped in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East, but increased in Africa, the Americas and the Western Pacific.
The WHO's dashboard showed that 50,496 cases and 16 deaths had been flagged up to the UN health agency, which declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.
On Friday, the WHO renamed the groupings as Clade I and Clade II respectively, to avert the risk of geographic stigmatisation. It also announced that Clade II had two sub-clades, IIa and IIb, with viruses within the latter identified as being behind the the current global outbreak.
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