The Ministry of Health of Mainland confirmed a new human case of H5N1 Avian Influenza infection. The victim was a 24-year-old man from Jiangsu Province. He developed symptoms on 24 November and died on 2 December 2007. He had no history of contacting sick birds. All close contacts remained well.

(Source: Ministry of Health, China 3 December 2007)

In Indonesia, an outbreak of Chikungunya Fever affecting hundreds of residents was reported in Bogor Regency of West Java. In addition, another outbreak of the same disease continued to affect Kabupaten Malang in East Java with 181 people infected so far.

(Source: ProMED-mail 26 November and 1 December 2007)

In the Philippines, 24 689 cases of Dengue Fever with 283 deaths have been reported since January this year. There was a sharp increase in the number of cases in September and October when the wet weather had made more breeding sites available for the disease’s vector, Aedes mosquitoes.

In the northern provinces of Vietnam, the total number of patients with diarrhoea has increased to 1 941, including 261 Cholera patients.

In Bangladesh, an outbreak of Avian Influenza was reported in Pabna district. About 6 000 chickens and 2 500 eggs were destroyed. A total of 20 out of the 64 districts in the country have been affected by the virus since it was first detected in March this year.

In Uttar Pradesh of India, abut 500 people died of Japanese Encephalitis this year.

In Iraq, more than 80 new cases of Cholera were reported in Baghdad in the past few weeks. The disease was first reported in northern Iraq and was now spreading in the capital.

In Poland, outbreaks of H5N1 Avian Influenza were reported in two farms near the city of Plock. Authority planned to cull 4 000 birds nearby.

In Romania, an outbreak of H5N1 Avian Influenza which killed 31 birds was reported in a farm in Tulcea. The remaining 49 birds were culled.

In Germany, 2 imported cases of Malaria were reported in November this year. Both patients had history of travel to Punta Cana in Dominican Republic.
(Source: ProMED-mail 26 November 2007)

In Jamaica, 4 260 suspected cases of Dengue Fever were reported in November. This figure represented a 2-fold increase in the number of cases as compared with last month. So far, 18 people died of the disease.

As of 29 November 2007, 468 confirmed cases of Bromide Poisoning have been identified in the neurological disease outbreak in Cacuaco of Angola. Investigation revealed very high levels of sodium bromide in table salt samples collected in the households of patients.

In Uganda, the Ministry of Health confirmed an outbreak of Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever in Bundibugyo District. As of 2 December, 61 cases including 18 deaths have been reported in the district. Officials think the outbreak might have been ongoing since September 2007. Laboratory analysis undertaken at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA, revealed the presence of a new strain of Ebola virus in samples taken from cases associated with the outbreak. Apart from Bundibugyo, there were also 2 suspected cases in the neighbouring districts of Mbarara and Port Portale pending laboratory confirmed.