WHO on Wednesday warned Nigeria
and 15 other African countries of a listeriosis outbreak that started in South
Africa in 2017, confirming its support for their preparedness and response to
the disease.
The other African countries are
Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
Listeriosis is a bacterial
infection most commonly caused by Listeria monocytogenes.
It can cause severe illness,
including severe sepsis, meningitis, or encephalitis, sometimes resulting in
lifelong harm and even death.
Listeria is ubiquitous and is
primarily transmitted via the oral route after ingestion of contaminated food
products
According to WHO numbers, nearly
200 South Africans have died since January 2017 as a result of contaminated
ready-to-eat meat products that are widely consumed in the country and may also
have been exported to two West African countries and 14 members of the South
African Development Community.
South African health authorities
recently declared the source of the outbreak as a factory in Polokwane, in the
country’s northeast.
This prompted a national and
international recall of the food products.
However, in light of the potentially
long incubation period of listeriosis and the challenges relating to large
scale nationwide recall processes, further cases are likely to occur.
Whole genome sequencing of
isolated strains of the Listeria bacteria was used to make the link between the
contaminated products, the producing company and strains of Listeria isolated
from the patients.
The WHO is currently supporting
further genome sequencing to determine which cases are linked to this ongoing
outbreak.
In March, South Africa hosted a
meeting of SADC health ministers to address regional preparedness and response
to listeriosis.
The ministers committed to
regional collaboration, exchanging information and strengthening national food
safety systems in line with international standards.
The WHO, however, does not
currently recommend any trade related measures in relation to the current
outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa, other than the recall of products
identified as sources of infection.
The UN health agency is working
with the 16 priority countries to improve their ability to prepare for, detect
and respond to potential outbreaks.
Immediate steps include
increasing awareness on listeriosis, enhancing active surveillance and
laboratory diagnosis, ensuring readiness of Rapid Response Teams, and
strengthening coordination and contingency planning. Experts have been deployed
to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland to support these efforts.
“This outbreak is a wake-up call
for countries in the region to strengthen their national food safety and
disease surveillance systems,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for
Africa.
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