Category: Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Alarm as large numbers of cattle die in Zvimba – “maybe it’s COVID-19”
Zvimba villagers in Zimbabwe are living in fear as their cattle are dying in large numbers with some suggesting that they could be dying from COVID-19.
Some villagers who spoke to Pindula News said the mortality rate was high in Kutama village.
Asked if Veterinary officers were assisting them, they said the officers were clueless. Said, one villager:
_They are clueless. They are also surprised._
Meanwhile, a study “Experimental Infection of Cattle with SARS-CoV-2” conducted by Lorenz Ulrich, Kerstin Wernike, Donata Hoffmann, Thomas C. Mettenleiter, and Martin Beer of Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Insel Riems, Germany, observed that under experimental conditions, cattle show low vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Angola: Increase in #coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths as 2nd wave peaks
Lubango central hospital in Angola is under pressure due to the growing number of patients, reporting the possible collapse of the system. In the Angolan province of Huíla, local health authorities are concerned with the increase in deaths and cases of Covid-19, especially since the beginning of May. The province recorded 14 deaths in the last seven days, an average of two a day, in addition to an increase in hospitalizations for serious and critical cases at the central hospital in Lubango.
In view of the worsening situation and the fear of collapse in the health system, local health authorities are reiterating calls to the population to redouble preventive measures and announced the opening of four new Covid-19 patient care centers in the municipalities of Chibia , Kuvango, Jamba and Cacula and thus try to stop the wear and tear in the largest hospital in the region.
Voaportugues.com report from Angola
Uganda was the first country on the continent to confirm the presence of the B.1.617 variant first identified in India late last year.
This variant has now been reported in Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, South Africa, Botswana, Angola, DR Congo, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Africa: Tanzania/Angola #coronavirus variant carries E484K & H655Y mutations
India: The stunning rise of the B.1.617.2 #coronavirus variant
Image by Erik Cleves Kristensen – View of Luanda, Angola, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2048784
South African #coronavirus variant B.1.351 (501Y.V2) at around 15% in Saarland, Germany
German Federal Health Jens Spahn Minister of has expressed concern about the spread of the South African corona variant in Saarland . “It is on the way to 15 percent South Africa variant,” said Spahn in Berlin. “That is by far the highest proportion in all of Germany.”
The variant, which was first discovered in South Africa in August 2020, was increasingly displacing the other variants there. Similar to the British one, this variant also spreads much faster because it can bind to human cells more quickly. But it is also suspected of being able to better escape human immune responses.
Image by picardzucht from Pixabay
Lancet: Surveillance of #coronavirus in Zimbabwe shows dominance of variants of concern – B.1.351 (501Y.V2) and A.23.1
In December, 2020, 95 (89%) of 107 sequenced cases contained mutations of concern, rising to 102 (98%) of 104 in January, 2021. The identified variants included the previously reported B.1.351 (501Y.V2) and A.23.1 variants, along with a novel variant under investigation.
Prospective surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 by genome sequencing in Zimbabwe between December, 2020, and January, 2021 (the period of the so-called second wave), has identified that variants with concerning mutations are prevalent in sequenced samples. In December, 2020, 95 (89%) of 107 sequenced cases contained mutations of concern, rising to 102 (98%) of 104 in January, 2021. The identified variants included the previously reported B.1.351 (501Y.V2) and A.23.1 variants, along with a novel variant under investigation.
The B.1.1.7, B.1.525, P.1, and P.2 and variants were not identified in Zimbabwe. Variants with concerning mutations have all replaced previously identified lineages in Zimbabwe
Image by Simon Berger from Pixabay