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IDSR Epidemiological Bulletin – Week 48.

Malawi IDSR Infographic (Week 48, 2025)

Editorial Team

Dr. Matthews Kagoli • Mrs. Mtisunge Yelewa • Mr. Austin Zgambo • Mr. Sikhona Chipeta • Mr. James Jere • Mr. Noel Khunga

Weekly IDSR Bulletin

Epidemiological Week 48 (24-30 November, 2025)

Published By

Moses Nyambalo Phiri

Public Health Institute of Malawi

National Surveillance Performance

In Week 48, the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system faced significant challenges. Reporting rates dropped considerably, with national completeness falling to 71.3% and timeliness to 68.1%, well below the 80% target. This requires urgent administrative attention.

Reporting Completeness
71.3%
↘ -23.5% vs Week 47
Reporting Timeliness
68.1%
↘ -23.8% vs Week 47
Performance Analysis Only the Central West (97.0%) and Central East (92.0%) zones met the national targets. The South West (57.0%) and South East (59.0%) zones performed poorly, indicating potential systemic or logistical issues that require immediate administrative follow-up.

Priority Disease Alerts

Malaria remains the highest burden with 14,011 cases and 7 deaths. Alerts for Typhoid Fever (37 cases, 1 death) and SARI (61 cases, 2 deaths) highlight ongoing public health risks.

Alert Insights Diarrhoea with blood remains high with 894 cases. Mpox alerts decreased to 19 suspected cases. A single Cholera alert and one Rabies alert were also reported and investigated.

Outbreak Spotlight: Mpox

One new confirmed Mpox case was reported in Week 48. Cumulative cases now total 140. Surveillance remains high to detect any new chains of transmission.

Epidemic Curve

Trend Analysis The epidemic curve shows sporadic cases persisting. Lilongwe (112 cumulative cases) remains the primary affected district.

Demographic Impact

Recovery Status Recovery rates are excellent at 98.6%. Currently, only 2 cases are under home isolation.

Outbreak Spotlight: Measles

Measles outbreak clusters have reached a total of 130 cases. While new cases in Balaka have plateaued, Machinga and Dowa reported increases.

Geographic Clusters

Hotspots Balaka (62 cases) remains the primary hotspot. Machinga cases rose to 25, and Dowa to 9, indicating localized transmission chains.

Vaccination Status

Data Gap A significant majority (75%) of cases have unknown vaccination status, complicating outbreak analysis.

Event-Based Surveillance (EBS)

21 signals were reported this week. 8 signals (38%) were verified as genuine events, with 4 classified as High Risk.

1

Detection

21 signals reported (Decrease from 39 in Wk 46).

2

Verification

8 signals (38.1%) verified as genuine public health events.

3

Response

4 High Risk events identified requiring urgent intervention.

Risk Profile Breakdown

Signal Triage 4 signals were classified as High Risk, and 3 as Moderate Risk. 13 signals (62%) remain unclassified.
⬇ Download Official Bulletin (PDF)

© 2025 Public Health Institute of Malawi. All Rights Reserved.

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