Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (29 January 2006)
From 28 December 2005 to 23 January 2006, 163 suspected cases of Meningococcal Disease had been reported from the district of Nakapiripirit in northeastern Uganda.
(Source: ProMED-mail 25 January 2006)
In Guinea, Cholera continued to spread with over 200 cases recorded in Lola and Yalenzou since October 2005.
In Zambia, over 70 new cases of suspected Cholera had been recorded in the country in the last 2 days. As of 24 January, 3 070 cases were recorded from the time of the outbreak.
(Source: ProMED-mail 27 January 2006)
Up to 18 January, an outbreak of Leptospirosis occurred in the Karnataka State of India had affected 258 people, including 156 women.
(Source: ProMED-mail 23 January 2006)
Malaysia: Japanese Encephalitis
In northeastern Kelantan state of Malaysia, a 13-year-old girl was believed to have died of Japanese Encephalitis, while 2 others had been hospitalised. Health authorities were trying to contain the spread of the disease after the 3 cases were detected in separate villages.
(Source: ProMED-mail 30 January 2006)
Cyprus: Avian Influenza, poultry
The H5N1 Avian Influenza virus was confirmed in a sample taken from poultry in northern Cyprus. Authorities had already culled poultry in the infected area.
(Source: ProMED-mail 31 January 2006)
The Ministry of Health in Iraq had confirmed the country's first case of human infection with the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus. The case occurred in a 15-year-old girl who died on 17 January following a severe respiratory illness. The girl’s 39-year-old uncle, who cared for her during her illness, developed symptoms on 24 January and died of a severe respiratory disease on 27 January. Both patients resided in the town of Raniya near Sulaimaniyah in the northern part of the country, close to the border with Turkey. A history of exposure to diseased birds has been found for the girl.
The Ministry of Health had further informed World Health Organization of a third human case of respiratory illness for possible H5N1 infection. The patient is a 54-year-old woman from the same area who was hospitalised on 18 January.
Samples from all 3 patients had been sent for further analysis.
(Source: World Health Organization and ProMED-mail 30 January 2006)
Indonesia: Avian Influenza, human [update]
The Ministry of Health in Indonesia had confirmed that 2 children from the same family died of Avian Influenza virus infection, bringing the infection toll in the country to 19, with 14 deaths.
(Source: World Health Organization 23 January 2006)
Mainland: Avian Influenza, human [update]
Mainland confirmed its 10th human infection with H5N1 Avian Influenza. The case was a 29-year-old woman from Chengdu city in the south-central province of Sichuan. She developed symptoms of fever and pneumonia on 12 January, and died on 23 January. She was self-employed in a shop selling dry goods. No information on possible exposure to diseased birds was presently available.
This was the second human case reported this year in Mainland, both from Sichuan province. No outbreaks in poultry had been confirmed in the areas where the two human cases resided. The appearance of human cases in areas without reported poultry outbreaks was a cause for concern.
(Source: World Health Organization 25 January 2006)