Gambia Declares Poliovirus Outbreak

-





Team Outpost 


The Gambia government through the Ministry of Health has declared the emergence of Poliovirus Outbreak in the country.


“It is with a deep sense of concern that I write to inform you that the country has experienced another outbreak of a new strain of Poliovirus cVDPV from the environmental surveillance site located at Banjul.” the release said. 


According to the release three environmental samples collected from Tallinding Daru Salam, Kotu Agua Gambia and Banjul were sent for sequencing to the Regional Polio Laboratory in the Republic of Senegal. 


“We received the results in May 2024 and the sample collected from the Banjul site was positive for cVDPV 2” the release added.


The results showed that the virus is genetically linked to the virus currently circulating in Guinea Conakry.


The Ministry further called on the support of the general public to respond to the outbreak.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular OP posts

‘Industrial Scale’ Foreign Disinformation Campaigns Fuel Anger, Confusion

-
Image
Dai Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping wave during the welcoming ceremony of an economic summit. Disinformation campaigns seeking to manipulate African information systems have increased nearly fourfold since 2022. That is according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), which linked disinformation campaigns to increased violence, support for coups, expanded anti-Western rhetoric and the spread of confusion about health care. These campaigns also work to erode confidence in traditional media sources. Nearly 60% of disinformation campaigns in Africa are linked to countries outside the continent. The efforts, aided by emerging technology, are mostly driven by Russia, although China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also push false narratives as they seek to spread their influence. Such contrived narratives are flourishing as Africa now has more than 400 million active social media users and 600 million internet users. Of t
Read more

Niger’s top investigative journalist wins 2024 International Press Award

-
Image
  CPJ is honored to present its 2024 International Press Freedom Award to Nigerien journalist Samira Sabou. Samira Sabou is one of Niger’s most prominent investigative journalists, who publishes mainly on her Facebook page and is the president of the Association of Bloggers for Active Citizenship (ABCA), an organization that advocates for freedom of expression and the rights of women and youth. Previously, she worked as a consultant for the Croissance Actualité Afrique (C2A) newspaper, directed the Economic and Social Development Information Magazine (MIDES) news website, and reported with the state-owned National Office of Publishing and Press (ONEP). Throughout her prestigious career, Sabou has been arrested, detained, and subjected to years of legal harassment because of her reporting on governance issues. In response to the various legal proceedings brought against her, she stopped working for the media and only publishes on her social media accounts. In July 2023, the Nigerien mil
Read more

A silent crisis: Halimatou Ceesay exposes caste-based discrimination in The Gambia

-
Image
  In The Gambia, a country often celebrated for its vibrant cultural diversity, an unspoken reality continues to plague thousands of people: caste-based discrimination, particularly against communities discriminated on work and descent (CDWD). Despite significant strides toward abolishing slavery and improving human rights, the shadow of descent-based oppression remains deeply entrenched, affecting every facet of life—from education to religious practice, and even basic human dignity. This isn't just a historical footnote; it's a living reality for many who are marginalised because of their caste, a system that continues to enslave families generation after generation. Halimatou Ceesay, a rights expert for the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) in The Gambia, spoke at the African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights, bringing the issue to light. “In The Gambia, communities continue to endure caste-based discrimination that mirrors the i
Read more