Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (14 November 2004)
USA (Colorado): Plague, Tularemia [update-3]
Local health officials of Colorado reported that 2 pet cats had been diagnosed with plague in the past 2 weeks and a woman died from the disease in August this year. (see 29 August 04 digest) They were alerting the public to use preventative measures to avoid the disease.
In addition, tularemia had been traced in a dead beaver and mouse and a man was struck with pneumonia caused by tularemia.
(Source: ProMED-mail 10/11/04)
[Editor Note: Human was contracted tularemia from rabbits and rodents through tick bites. People can also catch the disease by eating or coming in contact with an infected animal, contaminated water or soil, as well as by inhalation, and (in some locations) bites of mosquitoes or deer flies.
Symptoms of Tularemia include swollen glands, high fever, chills, fatigue, headache, sore throat, sore joints, chest discomfort, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and dry cough. They generally appear 3 to 5 days after an exposure to the bacteria, but they can take as long as 21 days to appear.]
West Nile Virus: North America [update-5]
In Canada, the total number of probable and confirmed human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection remains 29: 2 cases in Alberta, 3 in Manitoba, 13 in Ontario, 1 in Quebec and 10 in Saskatchewan. There had been no fatal cases.
In USA for the past week, a total of 41 new cases of human WNV illness had been reported from 7 states. So far this year, 40 states had reported 2,282 cases of human WNV illness. Of these, 32% were reported in California, 17% in Arizona, and 12% in Colorado. A total of 77 cases were fatal.
In Mexico, so far one individual in the state of Sonora exhibited signs of WNV disease in September.
(Source: ProMED-mail 11/11/04)
Panama: Malaria, Dengue, Hantavirus
Health officials of Panama reported an outbreak of malaria. More than 3800 cases were found this year.
There are two deaths due to dengue fever and one due to Hanavirus which causes haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.
(Source: Central News Agency 12/11/04)
Health official in Angola reported over 2 million malaria cases with 10% deaths every year. Half of them were pregnant women and children under five. Malaria is one of the major causes of death in Angola.
The Government is actively looking for efficient measures in the prevention of malaria and to reduce the impact of this disease, mainly on pregnant women and children.
(Source: Central News Agency 10/11/04)
In Liberia, 4 persons were dead in an outbreak of cholera, while about 435 others were affected by the epidemic in the southeastern counties of Maryland and Grand Kru.
In Senegal, some 860 cholera cases and 6 deaths were reported in early November in Dakar.
At least 50 people had been killed and over 300 others still critically ill in hospitals following a recent cholera epidemic in southwest Nigeria.
In Sierra Leone, health officials reported about 630 cholera cases and 56 deaths over the past 2 months.
In Guinea, there had been about 1,190 cholera cases including 100 deaths by late October.
In Zambia, a new cholera outbreak was reported in the capital Lusaka. Since February this year, Zambia had reported 3,835 cholera cases, including 179 deaths.
In Uganda, a cholera epidemic that started in refugee camps in Kilak county, with more than 120 cases. In Kasese town, the number of cholera patients had increased to 35, with 1 death reported in October.
Totally some 71,600 cases and 1600 deaths had been reported in Africa so far this year, and Cameroon, Chad, and Mali have been particularly badly affected.
(Source: ProMED mail 8/11/04, WHO 12/11/04, Xinhua Net 12/11/04)
Russia (Orenburg): Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome
During the past 9 months, 75 cases of hemorrhagic fever have occurred in the Buzuluk region of the city of Orenburg. Most were from the villages of Krasnogvardeyez and Koltubanovsk.
Infection occurs by inhalation of dust contaminated by rodents’ faeces and urine. People become infected during hunting, collecting hay, and similar rural activities. There is some risk of infection if a person does not wash their hands before eating.
The likely disease, haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), is caused by the Puumala virus, which is carried by the bank vole. The disease peaks in autumn to early winter.
Scarce funding, ineffective rodent control and inadequate sanitary cleaning of places that were natural foci of hemorrhagic fever, were thought to be the cause of the outbreak.
(Source: ProMED-mail 5/11/04)
[Editor Note: Orenburg city, on the Ural River, is located 1,200 km east of Moscow and 600 km north of Caspian Sea.]
Kazakhstan: Hepatitis A [update-2]
In southern Kazakhstan, 31 cases of hepatitis A have been reported in the Tolebiysk region during the past month. All infected patients were young children.
Although the source of infection remained unidentified, local health officials believed that the outbreak might be related to imported food products or might be a seasonal increase only.
(Source: ProMED-mail 9/11/04)
Asia: Avian Influenza [update-15]
Two children and an old man from Phichi of Thailand were suspected of having contracted avian influenza. They had been in contact with sick domestic chickens and were admitted to hospital.
The World Health Organization warned that domestic ducks might have an important role in the transmission of H5N1 avian influenza. They might be one of the reservoirs of the virus and the big threat was that the infected ducks could be symptoms free.
International agencies encouraged countries with avian influenza to include possible exposure to appearantly healthy domestic ducks when assessing the risk of infection to humans and to issue advice covering the handling of domestic ducks.
(Source: ProMED-mail 11/11/04, World Health Organisation 8/11/04)
India: Acute neurological syndrome
At the end of October, 98 people were killed by the acute neurological syndrome in western Uttar Pradesh state. The worst-affected district of Sahranpur, where the disease was afflicting children, had 50 deaths. In Bhagpat district, the number of ailing children was on the rise with 14 reported deaths. A few deaths were also reported from Moradabad, Noda, and Ghaziabad districts.
All cases appeared to be of viral encephalitis. Patients suffered from severe headache, fever, and vomiting. Children might have symptoms similar to meningitis and cholera.
(Source: ProMED-mail 7/11/04)
Indonesia (East Java): Diarrhoea
There were concerns over the rising number of East Java residents suffering from diarrhoea since last year. In one regional hospital, the number of patients with diarrhoea disease rose by 8 percent between January and September this year, when compared to the same period of last year, while in another the number of cases rose by 25% in September and October, when compared to figures in August. The rising figures were due to the public’s low awareness of the importance of keeping their environment clean and that people dumped their garbage in Surabaya River.
(Source: ASEAN Disease Surveillance 12/11/04)
Hong Kong SAR: Japanese Encephalitis
A 5-year-old boy had been confirmed to have contracted Japanese encephalitis. He lives the rural area in Yuen Long of the New Territories. He was in stable condition. There were three other confirmed but unrelated cases occurred in the New Territories this year.
The peak season for JE transmission in Hong Kong is from April to October. Although cases are rare, they have been reported in the New Territories. Officials have instituted mosquito control measures.
(Source: CDC 8/11/04)
[Editor Note: T he risk for JE among travellers to Hong Kong is very low, even when visiting the New Territories, especially now that the peak transmission season has passed.]
Taiwan: Dengue fever [update-12]
Taiwan health authority reported 31 more cases of dengue fever last week, making a total of 296 confirmed cases, of which 77 were imported cases. All the new cases were local cases and occurred in Pingdong County with a culmulative total of 199.
(Source: Department of Health, Taiwan 11/11/04)
[Editor Note: Dengue fever in Pingdong County has not improved. Travellers to southern Taiwan should adopt anti-mosquito measures.]
The Department of Health of Macau SAR reported the second case of dengue fever this year. The patient had travelled to Zhuhai frequently in September and October and suffered from fever, muscle pain, headache and skin rash since early November. She was now in stable condition.
(Source: Department of Health, Macau SAR 11/11/04)