Conference abstract
Port state control: a risk of the international spread of COVID-19 disease on board ships?
Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2023:18(186).03
Oct 2023.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2023.18.186.2048
Archived on: 03 Oct 2023
Contact the corresponding author
Keywords: COVID-19, risk, port, sub-Saharan Africa
Oral presentation
Port state control: a risk of the international spread of COVID-19 disease on board ships?
Essombe Malolo Fanny-Aimée1,&, Dissongo Jean II2, Vandi Deli3, Bello Djamila3, Eya’ane Meva François2, Mpondo Mpondo Emmanuel AP2
1Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon, 2Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon, 3National Public Health Observatory, Ministry of Public Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon
&Corresponding author
Introduction: on January 30th, 2020, WHO declared China’s COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, presenting high risk to countries with vulnerable health systems. The emergency committee said the spread of COVID-19 can be halted through early detection, isolation, prompt treatment, and implementation of a robust contact traceability system. The objective was to prevent the international spread of the disease, through protective measures, disease control, and response by proportionate public health action according to the International Health Regulation
Methods: a study of the crew’s itinerary was done using lists of ports of call ships. Indeed, the last potential exposure of crew members on the shipboard would correspond to the time between the last port of call and the inspection/surveillance at the Douala Port. In addition, any crew of a ship with a negative PCR test result (from any point of entry) of less than 72 hours was systematically subjected at the PoE of Douala Port to the Antigenic COVID-19 type of the PanbioTM brand Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT).
Results: approximately 0.51% of the crew aboard the cargo vessel after 61 epidemiological weeks are diagnosed positive for COVID-19 at the Douala Port. The highest number of cases was observed in the 52nd epidemiological week of 2021 (28 cases). About 33% of the vessels for which positive cases have been recorded belong to the WHO European Region, 25% to the Pacific, and 21% to the Americas. Vessels with positive cases had made their last stopover in West Africa (62%, and only during the last 20 epidemiological weeks in Central Africa (42 %).
Conclusion: about 0.51% of sailors on cargo vessels board after 61 epidemiological weeks are diagnosed positive for COVID-19 at the Douala Port. This low rate of positivity on board would reflect a low international spread of the disease through the crew members of the commercial vessels who would probably become contaminated in the ports of call during the controls by the actors of the Port State.
Port state control: a risk of the international spread of COVID-19 disease on board ships?
Essombe Malolo Fanny-Aimée1,&, Dissongo Jean II2, Vandi Deli3, Bello Djamila3, Eya’ane Meva François2, Mpondo Mpondo Emmanuel AP2
1Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon, 2Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon, 3National Public Health Observatory, Ministry of Public Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon
&Corresponding author
Introduction: on January 30th, 2020, WHO declared China’s COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, presenting high risk to countries with vulnerable health systems. The emergency committee said the spread of COVID-19 can be halted through early detection, isolation, prompt treatment, and implementation of a robust contact traceability system. The objective was to prevent the international spread of the disease, through protective measures, disease control, and response by proportionate public health action according to the International Health Regulation
Methods: a study of the crew’s itinerary was done using lists of ports of call ships. Indeed, the last potential exposure of crew members on the shipboard would correspond to the time between the last port of call and the inspection/surveillance at the Douala Port. In addition, any crew of a ship with a negative PCR test result (from any point of entry) of less than 72 hours was systematically subjected at the PoE of Douala Port to the Antigenic COVID-19 type of the PanbioTM brand Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT).
Results: approximately 0.51% of the crew aboard the cargo vessel after 61 epidemiological weeks are diagnosed positive for COVID-19 at the Douala Port. The highest number of cases was observed in the 52nd epidemiological week of 2021 (28 cases). About 33% of the vessels for which positive cases have been recorded belong to the WHO European Region, 25% to the Pacific, and 21% to the Americas. Vessels with positive cases had made their last stopover in West Africa (62%, and only during the last 20 epidemiological weeks in Central Africa (42 %).
Conclusion: about 0.51% of sailors on cargo vessels board after 61 epidemiological weeks are diagnosed positive for COVID-19 at the Douala Port. This low rate of positivity on board would reflect a low international spread of the disease through the crew members of the commercial vessels who would probably become contaminated in the ports of call during the controls by the actors of the Port State.
