Following an incident occurred at a nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on 12 March 2011, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for Fukushima Prefecture and 3 more prefectures (Miyagi Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture) to Black on 12 March and 15 March respectively. Residents in Hong Kong or Japan are urged to avoid all travel to Fukushima Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture. Those already in Japan should pay attention to the announcement of local government and take practicable measures to attend to their personal safety.

For more information, please visit the OTA webpage.

As the situation in Bahrain continues to deteriorate, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for the country to black. Hong Kong residents are urged to avoid all travel to the country. Those already there should attend to their personal safety and avoid protests and large gatherings of people. For more information, please visit the OTA webpage.

From 1 January to 6 March 2011, Chad reported 923 suspected cases of Meningococcal disease including 57 deaths (case-fatality rate: 6.2%). So far, five districts primarily in the region of Logone Occidental experienced an epidemic (Benoye, Kello, Laokassy, Melfi and Moundou ) while two others were in alert (Boussou and Sarh).

Egypt announced four new cases of human H5N1 Avian Influenza infection. The first case was a 32-year-old female from Sharkia Governorate. The second case was a 2-year-old boy from Kafr Elsheikh Governorate. The third case was a 17-year-old female from Behira Governorate. The fourth case was a 17-year-old female from Dakahlia Governorate. Of the 129 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 43 had been fatal.

In Gabon, one case of Poliomyelitis was reported from Ogoou - Lolo province. Previous to this case, Gabon had been polio-free for more than ten years.

Outbreaks of Measles were reported in European countries which included Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Macedonia. Turkey recently reported an outbreak in Istanbul, as well as cases linked to a large outbreak in Bulgaria in 2010. Uzbekistan reported small outbreaks of the disease. Measles is common in parts of Africa and Asia and large outbreaks were reported in Africa during 2010 in Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Asia during 2010, outbreaks were also reported in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines. In Americas, some sporadic cases were reported, most of them were imported cases.

Indonesia announced one new human case of H5N1 Avian Influenza. The victim was a 2-year-old boy from West Java Province. He developed symptoms on 4 February, hospitalized and then died.

Sierra Leone reported two cases of Yellow Fever in Jahun village in Bonthe district, Southern province. The two cases were a 40-year-old female and 18-year-old male. None of the cases had a history of Yellow Fever vaccination.

As the situation in Egypt continues to deteriorate, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the outbound travel alert (OTA) for the country to black. Hong Kong residents are urged to avoid all travel to the country. Those already there should attend to their personal safety and avoid protests and large gatherings of people. For more information, please visit the OTA webpage.

Following the hostage taking incident in the Philippines which had caused casualties, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for the Philippines to Black. Hong Kong residents are urged to avoid all travel to the Philippines. Those already there should attend to their personal safety and stay alert.

For more information, please visit the OTA webpage.