Current Travel Health News

In Australia, a total of 17 cases of Dengue Fever had been reported in the twin cities of Townville and Thuringowa in north Queensland.  The outbreak first occurred in South Townville in March 2007.

 

In western Bangladesh's Kushtia district, 6 people had died from encephalitis disease and more than 50 people were being treated at the local hospital. The disease initially broke out in Khajanagar and Kaburhat villages a week ago. The symptoms of the disease were high fever and acute mental disorder. Those affected were aged between 12 and 60. The cause was unknown.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 12 April 2007) 

The Ministry of Health in Bolivia had reported 4 cases of Yellow Fever since January this year, of whom 3 had died. A vaccination campaign was planned which would cover the 324 municipalities of the whole country.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 10 April 2007)

In Cambodia, an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza was confirmed in a village in Ponhea Kreak District of the province of Kampong Cham.  More than 300 poultry died.  The remaining 800 birds were destroyed.

 

In Comoros, an outbreak of Cholera, with 39 confirmed cases, was reported in the capital of Moroni in late February 2007. About half of the patients were children below the age of 15.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 13 April 2007)

The health official of Egypt had announced 2 new human cases of H5N1 Avian Influenza. The first case was a 2-year-old girl from Menia Governrate. She had contact history with backyard poultry. She was hospitalised and in a stable condition. The other one was a 15-year-old girl from Cairo Governorate. She died on 10 April. Of the 34 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 14 had been fatal.

 

In Fiji, 18 confirmed Typhoid Fever cases from a village outside Labasa Town and 10 cases of diarrhoea from a boarding school in Nadogo had been reported.  A team of health inspectors was sent to the village to carry out further investigations.

 

Eight cases of Anthrax had been reported in Bissaora, a town north of Guinea-Bissau's capital Bissau, between 24 March and 6 April.  One person died.  These patients had eaten contaminated meat.

 

More than 1 000 ducks in Indonesia's Bali Island were culled after some of them were tested positive for the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 11 April 2007)

In Indonesia, more than 4 400 cases of Dengue Fever had been reported in Jakarta in March 2007, compared to 2 249 registered during the same period in 2006.  A total of 42 people have died of dengue since this year.

 

In Liberia, officials had confirmed 13 cases of Lassa Fever in Nimba County, which was close to the border with Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire. Cases had also been reported in Bong County in central Liberia and Lofa County in the north.

 

[Editor’s note: Liberia’s last registered Lassa fever outbreaks occurred in Nimba County in September 2006.]

In Pakistan, outbreaks of Avian Influenza were reported in the poultry farms in the southern province of Sindh and in North West Frontier Province on 9 April.

 

In the Philippines, 880 Dengue cases had been reported in Metro Manila from January to 15 Mar 2007, the highest among 16 regions in the country. The second highest number of dengue cases was reported in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.

 

In Somalia, more than 800 cases had been put under treatment since Cholera was confirmed in Mogadishu in March 2007. The worsening violence in the region was making it increasingly difficult for patients to access the medical treatment.  In the province of Middle Juba and Hiran, more than 19 people, mostly children, have died of diarrhoea.

 

A total of 115 cases of Rift Valley Fever had been reported in Dodoma of Tanzania, of which 37 died. The first case was confirmed in February 2007.