Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (1 August 2004)
West Nile virus: Ireland ex-Portugal
Ireland confirmed 2 cases of West Nile Virus infection, the first ever human case in the country. One of the patients recovered whereas another was stable. Both of them visited Algarve in Portugal recently.
In Europe, recent outbreaks have also occurred in Romania and Russia. An expert said the risk of humans becoming infected in Europe is still thought to be very low. The Health Protection Agency of UK has warned people travelling to Europe, USA, Canada to take anti-mosquito measures to avoid being bitten by infected mosquitoes.
(Source: ProMED-mail 26/7/04, China Central Television 27/7/04)
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI): Asia [update-3]
In Thailand, 3 more provinces reported avian flu. This brings the total number of affected provinces to 21 in July out of the country’s 76 provinces.
In Vietnam, outbreaks of avian flu have been found in 11 provinces since July.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) noted that outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (A/H5N1) are again being reported in chickens and ducks in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam since late June this year. The disease A/H5N1 is now widely prevalent and is very likely to have become endemic. WHO announced plans to launch a new regional veterinary influenza network that aims to strengthen surveillance in animals.
(Source: Xinhuanet 30/7/04, ProMED-mail 29/7/04, WHO 30/7/04)
Tick-borne Relapsing fever: USA
In Montana state of USA, 2 youths visiting Flathead Lake earlier in July have recently been diagnosed with relapsing fever. They probably contracted the disease while sleeping in cabins.
Tick-borne relapsing fever is a disease caused by the bite of a tick that is carried by rodents. The ticks are night feeders, feeding quite quickly and painlessly. The symptoms include high fever, chills, headache and muscle ache. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and rash. Symptoms typically continue for several days, then disappear. Recurrence occurs a few days afterward, and may occur up to 5 or 6 times unless treated with antibiotics.
Travellers, especially when visiting endemic rural areas, should adopt following precautions:
- Carry a portable beddings and apply permethrin on it as well as to clothes.
- Check to make sure all windows and doors close with a tight seal.
- Keep all food and garbage in tightly sealed containers.
- Discourage rodents from nesting in the woodpile by keeping the wood off the ground, etc.
(Source: ProMED-mail 27/7/04)
Typhoid fever: Tajikistan (Dushanbe)
Over 100 people are either suspected or confirmed to have contracted typhoid fever in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, after heavy rains cut water supplies to the city of 1 million last week.
(Source: ProMED-mail 22/7/04)
Typhoid fever : Russia, Ukraine
Russian and Ukrainian authorities reported outbreaks of typhoid in their countries. The authorities also said that poor sanitation was to blame.
In Russia, 2 cases of typhoid were confirmed in a family just outside Moscow.
In Ukraine, 13 cases were reported in the Black Sea port of Odessa.
(Source : ProMED-mail 27/7/04)
In Darfur of Sudan and Chad, increasing cases of diarrhea and dysentery were reported. There is also the growing threat of cholera, and other diseases such as measles and typhoid. According to the World Health Organization, a cholera epidemic, striking up to 300,000, could break out within weeks.
In Uganda, a cholera epidemic has hit Bundibugyo, with 3 people dead and 10 admitted to hospitals. In Kampala, 2 residents of Kaseke village were confirmed to have cholera.
In Cameroon, around 128 people have died, out of 6,377 affected by cholera, since the beginning of 2004. The most affected provinces are the coastal, west, southwest, extreme north, south, and central. The capital Yaounde is also affected with 21 cases reported in 2 weeks. The causes are poor water quality and a lack of attention to hygiene.
(Source: ProMED-mail 26/7/04)
Health officials of the South Korea are on high alert for possible outbreak of cholera this summer.
So far this year, 7 people from South East Asian countries including Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have been infected with the disease. There have also been 6 incidents in which cholera bacillus was detected in airplane sewage. Last year, there was only imported cholera case and no bacterium was detected in aircraft sewage.
(Source: ProMED-mail 26/7/04)
Cholera, imported: Taiwan, ex-Philippines
One imported case of cholera was confirmed by the Department of Health, Taiwan. The patient travelled to Philippines and complained of diarrhoea. He was the first cholera case in Taiwan this year.
(Source: Central News Agency 26/7/04)
Malaria, imported: Hong Kong SAR, ex-Pakistan; ex-India
Two imported cases of Malaria were confirmed by the Department of Health.
The first patient was a young housewife arriving Hong Kong from Pakistan in early July and started to developed symptoms of fever, chills and rigors about 2 weeks later. She was admitted into hospital for treatment and was diagnosed to be suffering from benign malaria.
The second patient stayed in India since March this year. Three days before arriving in Hong Kong in July, he developed fever and subsequently headache, muscle ache and fatigue. He was admitted to hospital and his blood test confirmed infection with Plasmodium vivax. He is now in stable condition.
(Source: Department of Health, HKSAR 26/7/04, 31/7/04)
[Editor’s Note: Travellers to malaria endemic areas like South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa should take precautions. Travellers should adopt anti-mosquito measures and consider taking anti-malarials and seek advice from travel health practitioners.]
Dengue fever: Sri Lanka [update-8]
The latest figures for Sri Lanka's worst-ever dengue fever epidemic indicate that nearly 60 people have died, and almost 9500 have been affected. The heavy, widespread monsoon is intensifying the breeding of the dengue mosquito.
(Source: ProMED-mail 24/7/04)
Dengue fever: Philippines [update]
Health officials in Sarangani province have declared an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever. The outbreak has afflicted at least 19 children with 4 deaths in last month. The situation is considered as alarming, the government had implemented measures to control the situation.
(Source: ProMED-mail 23/7/04)
Dengue fever : Singapore [update]
In Singapore, a total of 222 dengue fever cases were reported in the third week of July, compared to this year’s weekly average of 68. The total number so far this year is nearly 3000 cases, with one death. It is predicted that the number of dengue cases could surpass a 5-year high.
The majority of cases are caused by indoor mosquito breeding, including along corridors. The most common breeding grounds are flower pot plates.
(Source : ProMED-mail 29/7/04)
Dengue fever, imported: Taiwan, ex-Thailand
A Hsinchu resident in Taiwan has been confirmed to have contracted dengue fever while visiting Thailand.
The patient, upon returning to Taiwan on July 18, after a trip to Thailand, was found to have fever at the airport. Blood tests later confirmed the diagnosis of dengue fever.
(Source: Central News Agency 29/07/04)
Dengue fever, imported: Hong Kong, ex-Cambodia
One imported case of dengue fever was reported by the Department of Health, making a total of 17 cases so far this year.
The patient travelled to Cambodia around middle of July. He developed fever, headache, rash and joint pain 4 days before he came back. He was admitted to hospital and his blood test confirmed infection with dengue virus. He was discharged from hospital.
(Source: Department of Health, HKSAR 31/7/04)
Plague outbreak, suspected: DR Congo
According to health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a suspected plague outbreak occurred in Ituri district since January 2004, infecting 1,042 people and causing 58 deaths so far. Most of the cases occurred in Mahagi Territory, 140 km north east of Bunia, within Ituri District.
A WHO mission sent to the area in mid-July reports that 90% of the cases are suspected to be bubonic plague, 7% pulmonary plague, and the rest (3%) septicemic plague.
Ituri remains the area in the DR Congo most affected by plague because of incessant population displacements caused by the continued fighting between rebel groups. People are forced to live in the bush during fighting and contributed to its spread. Another contributing factor is the climate. The high humidity during the rainy season forces people to store their food indoors, and this attracts rats and fleas that are carriers of the disease.
(Source ProMED-mail 30/7/04)
[Editor Note: Mahagi is located on the north-eastern tip of DR Congo, just 20 km south west of Nebbi of Uganda, where plague outbreaks had been reported in past years.]