Current Travel Health News

In Vietnam, specimens from 2 ducks in a market in Hanoi were tested positive for Avian Influenza H5. In addition, some waterfowl in Ben Tre, Long An and Tien Giang were also detected as having contracted bird flu viruses, including Avian Influenza H5.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 30 August 2006)

In Egypt, a new outbreak of H5N1 Avian Influenza has been reported in a domestic poultry farm in the village of Al-Rakakna in Sohag province.  All poultry in the farm were slaughtered and the people who had been in contact with the infected poultry were put under monitoring.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 3 September 2006)

As on August 31, 124 cases of Dengue Fever have been recorded in Guangdong province of the Mainland.  During the last 2 days of August, 38 cases had been reported, of which, 36 from Guangzhou, 1 from Yangjiang and the other one from Foshan.

 

From 26 June to 28 August this year, there were 112 local confirmed Dengue Fever cases In Taiwan. Among these, Kaohsiung city and county had 88 and 22 cases respectively, while the Pingtung county and Tainan city had 1 case each. The 4 places with the highest percentage in the dengue vector mosquito index were Kaohsiung city (61.5%), Penghu county (50.0%), Pingtung county (45.5%) and Kaohsiung county (18.2%).

 

(Source: Taiwan CDC 29 August 2006)

Health Ministry in El Salvador issued alert on Dengue Fever.  More than 470 cases had been confirmed. Three out of 4 infected patients lived in the departments of San Salvador, La Libertad and Sonsonate.

 

In the nearby Nicaragua, Health Ministry announced had measures to prevent type-3 Dengue Fever from entering the country.  Nicaragua had 538 confirmed cases of classic Dengue Fever and 22 cases of Hemorrhagic Dengue Fever.

 

In Dominican Republic, 130 cases of Dengue Fever and 69 cases of Haemorrhagic Dengue Fever have been reported in 2006.  The epidemic has affected the National District, Santo Domingo, San Cristobal, San Francisco de Macoris and Moca.

 

In Cuba, there have been reports that there were more than 3 000 cases of Dengue Fever in Havana.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 1 September 2006)

In southern Nepal, the Japanese Encephalitis epidemic has caused 22 deaths and over 200 people infected since April.  In eastern Nepal, 73 Japanese Encephalitis patients had been admitted to hospitals, among whom 11 had died of the disease.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 31 August 2006)

 

An outbreak of Malaria has broken out in several villages in Ponna Kyunt Township, 16 miles north of Arakan State Capital Akyab of Myanmar.  At least 2 people have died from Malaria.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 30 August 2006)

In the Stavropol region of the Central Caucasus of Russia, 41 cases of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever had been recorded, including one fatality.  This figure is worse than that of 2005, during which 38 cases were recorded. 

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 31 August 2006)

Over 700 cases of viral meningitis were reported in the Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk-on-the-Amur of Far East Russia, most of whom were less than 14 years of age.

 

[Editor's note: Viral meningitis is a seasonal infection in that area, with most cases occurring in summer.]

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 30 August 2006)

Kosovo province of Serbia reported 123 new cases of meningitis over the past week, raising the total number of cases to 553. The epidemic was spreading mainly among children. Well water contaminated with waste was considered to be the main cause of the outbreak.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 30 August 2006)

The number of Typhoid Fever cases in Fiji has increased substantially in the Northern Division over recent months. About 113 cases have been treated in the Northern Division so far this year, compared with the 127 cases recorded in the Division in the whole year 2005. No typhoid-related death has been reported in the Division for the past 22 years.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 28 August 2006)

In India, the outbreak of Typhoid Fever continued to affect Kochi district in Kerala. The number of reported cases in August was 82. The reported cases has now reached 321 so far this year, much higher than the 82 cases reported for the whole of last year. The recent heavy rainfall was being blamed for the upsurge.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 28 August 2006)