Current Travel Health News

According to the Ministry of Health in the Mainland, there was a confirmed human case of H5N1 Avian Influenza in Tunxi of Anhui province. The patient was a 37-year-old male farmer who developed fever and pneumonia on 10th last month. He was admitted to a hospital for treatment, subsequently recovered and was discharged on 6th this month.

The Ministry of Health in Indonesia had confirmed an additional three cases of human infection with the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus. The first newly-confirmed case was a 14- year-old male from West Jakarta.  He developed symptoms on 31 December 2006 and was hospitalized on 4 January 2007.  He died on 10 January 2007. Deaths among poultry in the neighbourhood had recently been reported.  The second case was a 38-year-old female from Tangerang, Banten Province.  She developed symptoms on 1 January 2007 and was hospitalized on 6 January 2007.  She died on 11 January 2007. Initial investigations suggested sick poultry was the possible source of infection.  The third case was a 22-year-old woman also from Banten Province who developed symptoms on 3 January 2007 and remains in hospital.  An initial investigation into the source of her exposure found reports of chicken deaths near her home in the days prior to symptom onset.  Of the 77 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 59 have been fatal.

The Animal Health Department of Vietnam said the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus had been found in ducks in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, a 6th Vietnamese province

(Source: ProMED-mail 14 January 2007)

In Japan, the Miyazaki prefectural government began disposal of some 12 000 chickens at a poultry farm after a large number of fowl there were confirmed to have died from H5 Avian Influenza.

New cases of Avian Influenza had been recorded on 2 farms in north-western Nigeria. Some of the infected birds were found in a backyard farm in Katsina town.  Local health officials had culled about a thousand chickens.

According to the health authority of Guangzhou, Mainland, there were 3 650 cases of Measles in the first 11 months of 2006, the highest number for the same period over the past 20 years.  The figure was 88 percent higher than that for the same period in 2005.  The measles patients were mostly preschool children.

The Department of Health confirmed the first imported case of Dengue Fever in 2007. The case was a 31-year-old female who developed symptoms of fever, headache, skin rash, muscle pain and joint pain on 2 January. She was hospitalised on 6 January and in stable condition. She had travelled to Malaysia before onset of symptoms.

As of December 15, the Ministry of Health Togo has reported 3 cases of Yellow Fever from the region of Savanes and Kara. A mass vaccination campaign will be carried out in the affected regions to prevent further spread of the disease.

(Source: World Health Organization 11 January 2007)

An outbreak of Hepatitis A virus infection occurred in Semipalatinsk of Kazakhstan.  There were 64 hospitalised residents and most of them were adults aged 25-35.

An epidemic of viral gastroenteritis has spread to at least 29 health-care institutions across Montreal, Canada, making it the worst of its kind in a decade.  Experts suspected that a new, more contagious strain of the Norovirus Infection has emerged, causing the epidemic.  Officials said effective infection-control measures have been undertaken.

In Djibouti, an outbreak of Cholera had claimed at least 5 lives with 40 suspected cases being put under observation.

 

In Uganda, an outbreak of Cholera affecting 30 people with one death was reported in a refugee camp in Kisoro district.

 

In Zambia, Cholera was discovered in Lusaka for the first time affecting 12 people with one death. There had been cases of Cholera reported in some other parts of the country, with Chiengi in Luapula Province suffering the most from the water-borne disease.

 

In Angola, Cholera cases had been rapidly increasing, from 50 cases per day in September 2006 to 80 cases per day in October 2006.  A total of 57 570 cases, with 2354 deaths, had been reported since the beginning of the epidemic in February 2006. In the peripheral of Huambo city, the outbreak had infected 459 people with 34 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in November 2006.

 

In Democratic Republic of Congo, Cholera had become endemic in areas surrounding Kivu and Tanganyika lakes of the South Kivu Province, since the first hit in 1998.  In 2006 alone, 3 outbreaks were registered.  The first occurred in Uvira affecting 760 people and killing 10 others. The 2nd occurred in Fizi and Uvira affecting 541 and killing 3 people.  The 3rd outbreak hit Bukavu affecting 246 and killing 10 people.

The death toll from an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya hit 88.  The viral disease had infected about 250 people since it was 1st reported in mid-December 2006 and had continued to spread across several districts in the country.

According to recent information available from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, four tourists from Europe had contracted Legionnaires' Disease in December 2006 after staying at the Phuket Grand Tropicana Hotel in Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand since 20 November 2006.