Travel Health Service Year 2019

Current Travel Health News

Travel Health News

Current Travel Health News

Take precautions against dengue fever when travelling abroad

Dengue fever is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. This includes various popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong people including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Travellers planning to travel in these areas should take precautions against the disease.

Cumulative reported number of dengue cases since 01/01/2019 *

 

Cumulative reported no.
of cases since 01/01/2019

Source of information and date of report

Australia

203

World Health Organization, 14 March 2019

Brazil

74,668

World Health Organization, 14 March 2019

Cambodia

1,330

World Health Organization, 28 February 2019

Guangdong, China

36

Health Commission of Guangdong Province, 15 February 2019

Japan

49^

National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan, 12 March 2019

Lao PDR

978

World Health Organization, 14 March 2019

Malaysia

26,545

World Health Organization, 14 March 2019

Mexico

6,338

World Health Organization, 14 March 2019

The Philippines

36,664

World Health Organization, 14 March 2019

Singapore

1,995@

Singapore National Environment Agency, 14 March 2019

Sri Lanka

10,435

Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, 14 March 2019

Taiwan, China

1”

CDC, ROC (Taiwan), 14 March 2019

Thailand

9,914

Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, 12 March 2019

Vietnam

38,122

World Health Organization, 14 March 2019

* Dengue reporting systems vary by country/area.
@Cumulative cases since 30 December 2018.
^ Cumulative cases since 31 December 2018.
” Locally-acquired


Cumulative reported number of dengue cases between 01/01/2018 and 31/12/2018 *

 

Cumulative reported no.
of cases since 01/01/2018

Source of information and date of report

India

89,974

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, India, 25 November 2018

Remarks:
* Dengue reporting systems vary by country/area.
” Locally-acquired

Travellers should stay vigilant against dengue fever and adopt the following personal preventive measures against mosquito bite:

* Always wear loose, light-coloured long-sleeved tops and trousers;
* Stay in air-conditioned residence or places with mosquito screens;
* If mosquito screen or air-conditioning is absent, aerosol insecticide and bed nets are advised;
* Use insect repellents containing DEET on exposed skin and clothing;
* Use insect repellents containing DEET apart from applying sunscreen while staying in beaches;
* Re-apply insect repellents according to instructions during the trip;
* Carry a portable bed nets and apply permethrin on it as well as to clothes if travelling to rural areas where dengue fever is prevalent.

Travellers returning from areas where dengue fever is prevalent should seek medical advice as soon as possible if they feel unwell and provide travel details to their doctors.


Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola Virus Disease [Update]

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo continues. The total number of cases has reached 960, including 895 confirmed and 65 probable cases. The total number of deaths is 603.

 

Saudi Arabia: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome [Update]

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) recorded 105 cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome since the beginning of 2019. Wadi-ad-Dasawir recorded 57 cases which were mostly associated with hospital-based outbreak.

 

Ukraine: Measles [Update]

Ukraine continues to report measles at high levels. From the beginning of this year to 14 March, 30,794 cases have been reported across the country, including 11 deaths.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 18 March 2019)

 

The Philippines: Measles [Update]

The Philippines Department of Health has declared outbreak measles cases nationwide. During 1 January – 14 March 2019, a total of 21,396 cases have been reported across the country, including 315 deaths.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 16 March 2019)

 

Nigeria: Measles

Nigeria reported nearly 6000 cases of measles since the beginning of this year, nearly double the number reported in 2018 during the same period. 15 deaths have been reported.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 16 March 2019)

 

New Zealand: Measles

New Zealand health officials have declared measles outbreak recently. 28 cases have been confirmed in Canterbury.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 16 March 2019)

 

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola Virus Disease [Update]

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo continues. The total number of cases has reached 936, including 871 confirmed and 65 probable cases. The total number of deaths is 591.

 

Southeast Asia: Dengue Fever [Update]

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health reported the latest number of cases of dengue fever (DF), and again urged the public to maintain strict environmental hygiene, mosquito control and personal protective measures both locally and during travel.

From March 7 to 14, the CHP recorded two imported DF cases. The patients had been to Thailand during the incubation period.

As of March 14, 31 cases had been confirmed this year, all of which were imported cases. The cases were mainly imported from Indonesia (seven), Malaysia (seven) and Thailand (six).

DF remains endemic in some areas of Asia and beyond. The latest figures for 2019 revealed that 9 914 cases had been recorded in Thailand, 36 664 in the Philippines, 26 545 in Malaysia (which is 157 per cent higher compared to the number of cases reported during the same period in 2018), 1 995 in Singapore (since December 30, 2018), 38 122 in Vietnam (which was 3.6 times the number of cases reported in the same period in 2018) and 49 in Japan. In the Americas, the latest figures indicated that 6 338 cases were filed in Mexico in 2019.

 

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola Virus Disease [Update]

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo continues. The total number of cases has reached 932, including 867 confirmed and 65 probable cases. The total number of deaths is 587.

 

Ukraine: Measles [Update]

Ukraine continues to report measles at high levels. Since the beginning of this year, 28,686 cases have been reported across the country, including 10 deaths.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 14 March 2019)

 

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola Virus Disease [Update]

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo continues. The total number of cases has reached 927, including 862 confirmed and 65 probable cases. The total number of deaths is 584.

 

State of New York, USA: Measles [Update]

USA New York State continues to report measles cases. Rockland County has reached 145 cases since September 2018, while Brooklyn and Queens have reached 158 cases in total since October 2018.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 13 March 2019)

 

Madagascar: Measles [Update]

Since the onset of the outbreak in September 2018, a total of 86,985 measles cases have been reported in Madagascar, including 1,141 deaths.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 13 March 2019)

 

State of Washington, USA: Measles [Update]

Since the identification of an outbreak in January 2019, USA Washington State recorded 72 confirmed cases of measles. In view of the outbreak, Washington State Government declared state of emergency on 25 January 2019.

 

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola Virus Disease [Update]

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo continues. The number of cases has reached 860 and the total number of deaths is 584.

 

Saudi Arabia: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome [Update]

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) recorded 102 cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome since the beginning of 2019, 57 of which came from a hospital-based outbreak in Wadi-ad-Dasawir.

 

Japan: Measles [Update]

In Japan, the outbreak of measles continues. 285 cases have been reported so far this year as of 3 Martch 2019, being the highest record for the same period of time of the year since 2013.

 

Japan: Rubella [Update]

In Japan, 768 rubella cases were reported so far this year as of 3 March 2019. 113 cases were recorded during the week of 25 February-3 March, being the second consecutive week to have over 100 cases per week.

[Editor Note: In recent months, there is a significant increase of rubella cases in Japan.

Pregnant women and women preparing for pregnancy who are non-immune to rubella are advised not to travel to areas with ongoing rubella outbreaks.

Members of the public should review their vaccination history and past medical history at least two weeks before departure. People may be considered as non-immune to rubella if they did not have rubella infection confirmed by laboratory test before and had not been vaccinated against rubella. For those who had not been vaccinated, with unknown vaccination history or unknown immunity against rubella, they (especially pregnant women and children aged under one year who are not due for the first dose of Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) combined vaccine in Hong Kong) are advised to consult doctor for advice.]