Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (12 December 2004)
In Loreto province of the Amazon basin in the northern part of Peru, dengue fever is rapidly spreading. There were 1,800 dengue fever cases reported so far and one 6-year-old child died. Local health authority announced that more than 100 cases were reported in the last one week.
(Source: CCTV 6/12/04)
South Carolina State agency warned Beaufort County residents to avoid wild or stray animals. A 4-year-old girl was hospitalized after she was attacked by a rabid raccoon while playing with other children outside her home. The animal was killed and its carcass tested positive for rabies.
There were 7 confirmed cases of animal rabies reported in Beaufort County so far in 2004. Five of the infected animals were raccoons.
(Source: ProMED- mail 7/12/04)
USA(California): visitor got West Nile Fever
A 77-year-old woman was probably the third imported case of West Nile fever in Germany. The patient had a trip to California, USA in September. She reported an insect bite during a stay in an epidemic area. She became ill on 20 September and was admitted to a hospital in the USA.
(Source: ProMED-mail 8/12/04)
[Editor note: West Nile fever is transmitted by mosquito bite. Travellers should take anti-mosquito measures to prevent from infection.]
South Africa (Eastern Cape): Avian flu H5N2
Officials of South Africa said that ostriches in three farms in the Eastern Cape Province would be culled after birds on one of the farms contracted H5N2 strain avian flu. The farms were around 120 kilometers from the area where the initial outbreak had been detected in August. Local authorities said this did not mean the disease was spreading.
(Source: ProMED-mail 6/12/04)
Kenya had recorded 132 cases of cholera since mid-November. Three of them were fatal. The source of infection was contaminated water supply. Health officials had issued a health alert.
(Source: Center for Disease Control, Taiwan 7/12/04)
Thailand (Phuket): traveller contracted Ancylostomiasis
A man from Taiwan developed severe itchiness and rash over his soles after travelling to Phuket, Thailand. Examination and investigations revealed parasitic larvae crawling beneath his skin. It was believed that he had contracted the larvae of a parasite called Ancylostoma, which could be found in faeces of cats or dogs. The parasite penetrated the skin when he walked on beaches with bare feet.
Travellers are advised to wear shoes to walk on beaches.
(Source: Central News Agency 8/12/04)
Peak season for influenza has recently started in Beijing with increasing number of people having respiratory tract infections. However, the probability of occurrence of a large-scaled influenza outbreak is unlikely. Nevertheless, experts advise people to take extra precaution against the disease. Surveillance on influenza and other respiratory tract infections will be enhanced.
(Source: China News Service 8/12/04)
In Indonesia, health officials had reported that there were 40 children with cholera in Lampung province and 3,000 cases with severe diarrhoea since mid-November. The source of infection was the contaminated drinking water supply.
(Source: Center for Disease Control, Taiwan 7/12/04)
In Philippines, the Department of Health of Negros Occidental had recorded 84 suspected cholera cases, of which 31 were confirmed, since late November.
(Source: Center for Disease Control, Taiwan 7/12/04)
The number of malaria cases has sharply increased to at least 27 in the Lampung Province of Indonesia since November this year. Two cases were fatal and confirmed to be malignant malaria. All cases were from beach areas of the province, which were endemic for malaria.
(Source: Liputan 6-SCTV 6/12/04)
Vietnam: visitor contracted Dengue fever
A Taiwanese returned back to Chiayi County on 5 December after a trip to Vietnam. On return, he had fever, sore throat and muscle pain. He was then confirmed to have contracted dengue fever. This was the second confirmed imported dengue fever case in Chiayi County this year.
(Source: Central News Agency 10/12/04)
All administrative regions in Indonesia have been called to increase their alertness against dengue fever. At least 59,321 cases of dengue fever were reported with 669 people died in the first half of this year. In Jakarta, there were 12,000 residents infected with 59 deaths during the last outbreak from October last year to May this year.
(Source: The Jakarta Post 6/12/04)