Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (30 May 2004)
Poliomyelitis: Botswana [Update]
Botswana's 13-year polio free-status was broken in April 2004 when a child in Ngami, northern Botswana was found infected with the poliovirus. Another 2 possible cases of polio infection were reported in the Tutume sub-district in mid-May.
The poliovirus is reported to be endemic in 6 countries: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan, and Egypt.
(Source: ProMED-mail 24/5/04)
According to report of the Chinese Ministry of Health, schistosomiasis is not under control in the 7 provinces along the Yangtze River, including Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Yunnan. The highest risk areas are Hanjiang plain, Dongting Hu, Poyang Hu, Changjiang and part of the mountain areas of Sichuan and Yunnan.
Another 6 provinces are put under surveillance. They are Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Gaungxi, Fujian, and Chongqing.
The disease has shown an increasing trend during the past 5 years. In 2003, there were about 0.8 million cases of schistosomiasis, of whom one quarter occurs in Hunan province. Acute infections amount to 1,114, a 22% increase as compared to previous year.
A high-powered National Schistosomiasis Control and Prevention Conference was held this month in Yueyang, Hunan Province. The strategic measures to be taken are: source control, spread interruption, protecting the vulnerable population, and strengthening the surveillance system.
(Source: China Central Television 23/5/04)
[Editor Note: Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease, affecting both human and animals. When visiting infected areas, travellers should: avoid taking uncooked snails, stay away from paddy field and do not wade in fresh water. If travellers develop fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea or dysentery, they should seek medical advice and give a complete travel history.]
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1: Thailand
An outbreak of Avian Influenza H5N1 has reported in a research farm of the Chiang Mai University in the Northern Thailand on 22 May. To halt the spread of avian influenza, the concerned farm has been place under quarantine for 21 days by the Agricultural Department. After investigation, no other cases of Avian Influenza have been found in the farms located within 5km radius.
UN Food and Agricultural Organization said on 24 May that food-borne diseases pose a serious threat to densely populated areas of Asia and the Pacific. In the region, more than 700,000 people die every year from single cases of food- and water-borne disease and the avian influenza epidemic is the most recent example of a disease linking food, animals and human health. It urged member states not to let their guard down.
(Source: ProMED-mail 27/5/04)
[Editor Note: Travellers going to affected areas should avoid visit to live bird markets and poultry farms. They should avoid contact with live poultry and birds and wash hand thoroughly with soap and water after contact. They should observe good food hygiene and consume only thoroughly cooked poultry products and eggs.]
Further to a report of a Nipah-like virus in Bangladesh on 26 Feb 04, another outbreak of Nipah virus encephalitis has began in mid-March 2004. The recent outbreak occurred in the Faridpur District of Bangladesh which was responsible for 34 cases, including 26 deaths. As no new cases have been reported since mid-April 2004, the outbreak has ended.
(Source: ProMED-mail 28/5/04)
[Editor Note: Nipah virus, which was discovered in 1999 in Malaysia and Singapore, is an infectious agent that can be transmitted from certain animals (pig, cat, dog, horse) to humans. Fruit bats are thought to be the reservoir for this virus. The virus mainly caused respiratory illness among the pigs and an encephalitis syndrome among humans. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, drowsiness, and encephalitis characterized by serious central nervous system illness, coma, seizures, and inability to maintain breathing.
As a general precaution, travelers are advised to avoid contact with wild or domestic animals in the region. Another important preventive practice is careful and frequent hand washing, which helps remove potentially infectious materials from the skin and prevents disease transmission.]
Up to 22 people may have died after being bitten by rabies-carrying vampire bats in Brazil's Amazon state of Para. Most of the confirmed deaths were in the remote riverside Portel area. Over the past 12 months, about 1,130 people who had been bitten by the thumb-sized bats in Viseu and about 600 people in Portel.
(Source: ProMED-mail 27/5/04)
At least 6 people have died of rabies in the last 6 months in Bomet District after being bitten by dogs.
(Source: ProMED-mail 27/5/04)
[Editor Note: Bomet District is located 320 km west of Nairobi in the Rift Valley Province. The nearby Masai Mara Game Reserve is a famous tourist spot. Travellers should avoid having any direct contact with the wild animals.]
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever: Pakistan
In Pakistan, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has infected 10 persons, including 4 deaths. More than 70% cases occurred in the south-western province of Baluchistan. Health officials believed that the outbreak is related to tick infestation of the local livestock.
Over 300 cases of the disease have been recorded in Pakistan since 2001. About one third of the victims died.
(Source: ProMED-mail 18/5/04)
[Editor Note: CCHF is primarily an infection disease affecting animals, and only occasionally affects humans. The virus is transmitted by ticks. In 2001, outbreak of CCHF has been reported in the Baluchistan province, bordering with Afghanistan. Visitors to affected areas should remain vigilant against tick bite and apply permethrin on clothing.]
Ebola hemorrhagic fever：Sudan [update]
As of 26 May, a total of 20 cases, including 5 deaths, of Ebola hemorrhagic fever were reported by the health authority in Yambio, Western Equatoria, South Sudan. More than 100 others are being kept under surveillance.
At this stage, WHO recommends no special restrictions on travel, or trade, as a result of this outbreak.
(Source: World Health Organisation 26/5/04)
Dengue fever : Indonesia [update - 10]
Dengue fever is still spreading in Central Java province of Indonesia. During the first five months in this year, 7160 dengue fever cases and 130 deaths are recorded. In May, there are still 256 cases with 6 deaths. Nationwide the epidemic is subsiding.
(Source: ProMED-mail 29/5/04)
Dengue fever: Sri Lanka [update -3]
The dengue epidemic in Sri Lanka has claimed 16 lives so far this year, while the number of suspected cases had risen to 3137 as of yesterday. The highest number of cases have been reported from Gampaha (638) followed by the capital Colombo (632), Kandy(542), Kurunegala and Trincomalee.
(Source: ProMED-mail 29/5/04)
Dengue fever : Taiwan [update]
One local case of dengue fever was confirmed in Taichung. The victim started to have fever, headache, retro-orbital pain, joint pain in late April and was diagnosed to have type 1 dengue in mid-May. He had not gone abroad for the last 3 months.
As for imported dengue fever cases, Taiwan confirmed 25 so far this year (11 from Vietnam, 7 from Indonesia, 5 from the Philippines, 1 each from Thailand and India).
(Source: Department of Health, Taiwan 15/5/04)
As of late May, 15 cases of malaria had been registered in Kyrgyzstan, of which 13 were from the south.
There were around 470 registered indigenous cases of malaria in 2003, while in 2002 that figure stood at some 2,750. With summer on the way, health warning of a possible increase in the number of malaria cases in the southern Kyrgyzstan was issued by the local health authority.
(Source: ProMED-mail 27/5/04)
Malaria: Western Pacific Region
Since the 1990s, malaria was endemic in 10 western pacific countries. Seven are located north of Equator: Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam. Three are located south of Equator: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
Most of the cases are reported in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vietnam, and Cambodia. In South Korea and Yunnan Province, China, only P. vivax malaria is endemic. In all the other malaria endemic countries, P. falciparum is generally the predominant parasite.
Although P. vivax malaria is characterized by high fevers and prostration, it is very rarely a fatal disease. P. falciparum malaria, on the other hand, typically has a case fatality rate between 0.2% and 2.0%.
(Source : World Health Organisation, Western Pacific Region Office)
Outbreak of Plague is currently reported in the Rita Blanca National Grasslands (RBNG), northwest corner of Texas. So far plague has been confirmed in fleas from areas with prairie dogs activities, which are sparely populated. However spreading to other sites and prairie dog hunters are possible.
Health officials of Texas advised hunters not to enter the said areas.
(Source: ProMED-mail 20/5/04)
cholera and Diarrhoea : South America
In Pernambuco of Brazil, 5 new cases of cholera were identified during the month of May. The cholera organism has been detected in cisterns in the municipal.
During the past 2 weeks, 70 persons in Ecuador have been infected by an unknown agent that causes diarrhea and vomiting, with 1 infant death. Salmonellosis is being considered but has not been confirmed. The health authorities suspect that the infection originated in contaminated fish sold at the open-air market.
(Source: ProMED-mail 28/5/04)
In Mali, over 2000 cholera cases were registered in the past half year, of which 177 cases were fatal. In recent 2 weeks, a cholera outbreak occurred in Tla village, affecting 93 persons of whom 21 died.
In Zimbabwe, a cholera outbreak in Guruve North last week claimed the life of a child, with 24 other people falling ill.
In Kenya, a cholera outbreak at the south coast including Vanga, Lunga Lunga and Shimoni has left 1 woman dead and 40 villagers suffering from severe symptoms of the disease. The government has treated 68 wells in the area with chlorine and also banned food vending.
(Source: ProMED-mail 28/5/04)
Cholera and Diarrhoea : India [update]
There are cholera and diarrhoea outbreaks in several parts of India, with nearly 13 deaths reported from Delhi and 300 believed to have died in Chennai. Over 90 people in Gorakhpur have died of suspected cholera, and in Agra at least 150 children in just one colony are also critically ill. Contaminated drinking water is believed to be the cause of the disease.
At least 60 children in Uttar Pradesh have died, and over 500 are seriously affected by diarrhea and cholera triggered by intense heat wave sweeping the region. Several cases of water-borne diseases have been reported in Ferozepur, including diarrhea, jaundice, gastroenteritis and typhoid.
(Source: ProMED-mail 28/5/04)