Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (30 April 2007)
An outbreak of Leptospirosis had been reported in Santa Fe province of Argentina following a storm in April 2007. Almost 400 cases had been reported in the province. In Rosario, a total of 39 cases were detected, among which 3 were confirmed.
A confirmed and a suspected case of jungle Yellow Fever had been reported in Jatai township in Goias state of Brazil.
Burkina Faso: Meningococcal Meningitis
A total of 24 633 cases of Meningococcal Meningitis with 1625 deaths were reported in Burkina Faso since January 2007. The epidemic was active in 6 districts in April 2007 as opposed to 30 in the month earlier and the death rate had dropped from 8 percent in March 2007 to 6.6 percent.
The number of confirmed Typhoid Fever cases in Fiji had reached 100 and had claimed 2 lives so far. The Health Ministry was advising the public to refrain from drinking yaqona as yaqona drinking involved people mixing the drink, who could be carrying the bacteria.
More than 1500 people fell ill with Cholera in Howrah of India in the past 12 days, of whom 2 died. The contaminated drinking water of the area was the source of this outbreak.
Indonesia: Hong Kong traveller contracted Dengue Fever
The Centre for Health Protection confirmed an imported Dengue Fever case, involving a 59-year-old woman. She travelled to Indonesia from 29 March to 15 April and came down with fever, headache and a rash on 11 April. It was the sixth imported Dengue Fever case reported this year.
In Japan, a total 32 people were reported infected with Measles over the period from 8 to14 April 2007.
(Source: New Zealand Embassy, Tokyo 27 April 2007)
In Kenya, at least 3 people have died and 6 were admitted to hospital for treatment following a Cholera outbreak in Mandera town of the Northeastern Province. In the Rift Valley Province in the northwestern Kenya, at least 3 Cholera deaths were confirmed in a village in Turkana South and 20 patients were under treatment in hospital.
Mongolia: Anthrax, human and livestock
In Mongolia, 4 cases of human Anthrax were reported recently in Arhangay Aymag and Hovd Aymag, which are bordering China. Anthrax also occurred in the livestock of Tomorbulag Soum of Hovsgol Aymag. As such, quarantine and disinfection measures were imposed in the affected areas on 14 April by the local authority.
In Philippines, a diarrhoea outbreak affecting more than 100 residents with at least 15 deaths was reported in four villages in Basilan province.
(Source: ASEAN Disease Surveillance 26 April 2007)
Singapore: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
A total of 688 cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease had been reported in Singapore between 15 and 21 April, the highest number recorded so far this year. This figure was also 70 percent higher compared to the same period last year. Health officials reminded child-care centres and schools affected to put in place control measures.
Sudan: Meningococcal Meningitis
As of 17 April, more than 11 700 Meningococcal Meningitis cases and 704 deaths had been reported in southern Sudan. In addition, 775 cases and 43 deaths had been reported in northern Sudan. In total, 46 counties in 16 states of Sudan had so far been affected.