Seasonal alert for infectious diseases

Islamabad The National Institute of Health (NIH) has issued a Seasonal Awareness and Alert Letter (SAAL) for epidemic-prone infectious diseases in Pakistan.

 The letter directs the federal, provincial and district health departments as well as other stakeholders to take pre-emptive measures against communicable diseases put on high alert. These diseases include Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, Chikungunya, Dengue Fever, Gastroenteritis, Malaria as well as the vaccine-preventable diseases like Measles, Typhoid Fever, Viral Hepatitis and Poliomyelitis.

The purpose of SAAL is to alert health authorities and professionals and to facilitate timely and efficient response to outbreaks and epidemics, thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases.

The letter is the second issue of the year 2017, in which NIH has informed that the emergence and outbreak potential of various communicable and infectious diseases has a direct relationship with weather and temperature change. The letter also contains information about international public health events like Ebola Virus Disease, Zika Virus Disease, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV) and Influenza-A (H7N9) Virus. Through SAAL, NIH has advised continuous watch on the anticipated seasonal public health threats and adoption of preventive or curative measures in this context.