Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (15 January 2006)
In Somalia, the Poliomyelitis epidemic had spread outside the capital Mogadishu, including in the north of the country with 131 cases. Polio immunization campaigns were planned for January and February this year.
(Source: ProMED-mail 11 January 2006)
Indonesia: Hong Kong traveller contracted Dengue Fever
The Department of Health confirmed the first two imported cases of Dengue Fever in 2006. The victims were males aged 45 and 22. They both had history of travel to Indonesia in December 2005.
(Source: Department of Health, Hong Kong SAR 6 & 11 January 2006)
In Indonesia, 11 new vaccine derived Poliomyelitis cases were reported in Madura Island, East Java province. This brought the total number of Polio cases to 342. A total of 10 provinces and 43 districts were affected. Prior to this outbreak, Indonesia had been polio free since 1995.
(Source: ProMED-mail 11 January 2006)
The number of Dengue Fever cases in Bantul regency of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, reached 61 in December, a two-fold increase compared with last month. While in October and November 2005, only 22 and 20 people were infected with Dengue virus respectively. The number was expected to increase as raining season was coming.
(Source: ProMED-mail 10 January 2006)
In New Zealand, an outbreak of Hepatitis A affecting 10 people was reported in Christchurch. There were normally only 2-3 cases of the viral illness each year in the region and less than 100 cases nationwide. Health officials suspected raw foods could be the cause of the outbreak.
(Source: ProMED-mail 10 January 2006)
Indonesia: Avian Influenza, human [update-12]
The Ministry of Health in Indonesia had confirmed an additional case of human infection with the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus. The case occurred in a 29-year-old woman who worked at the maternity ward in a Jakarta hospital. She visited a live-bird market to purchase freshly slaughtered chicken in the days immediately prior to symptom onset.
The newly confirmed case was the 17th in Indonesia and the 12th fatality.
(Source: World Health Organization 14 January 2006)