Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (8 May 2005)
Angola: Marburg hemorrhagic fever [update-6]
The epidemic of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Angola was still not under control. There were 38 new cases reported in the northern Angola province of Uige in the past few days. No new cases had been reported in the other affected provinces. As of 3 May, a total of 313 cases had been reported, including 280 deaths, with another 208 people under observation.
(Source: ProMED-mail 4 May 2005)
India: Meningococcal meningitis
An outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in New Delhi of India had infected at least 100 people and killed 15 patients.
(Source: ASEAN Diseases Surveillance & Southerncn.com 4 May 2005, Oriental Daily News 7 May 2005)
[Editor Note: The disease usually begins as a respiratory infection with cold, cough and a headache, followed by skin rash, low blood pressure and signs of infection of the brain. It is spread by direct contact with droplets from the nose and mouth of infected people.]
Russia: Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever
In Stavropol of Russia, 3 persons had been hospitalised with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF). Seven more persons being bitten by ticks were under medical observation. Since mid-April, about 400 persons had been treated for tick bites in the region. Most of these people looked after domestic animals.
(Source: ProMED-mail 1 May 2005)
[Editor Note: The Stavropol Region is located in the southern part of European Russia, in the North Caucasus, around 200km north from the Russia-Georgia border. Sheep raising is an important occupation.]
The Center for Disease Control of Taiwan said that the mosquito index of dengue fever in South Taiwan was three times higher than that of the same period last year. There were more than 360 cases of dengue fever in South Taiwan last year. As the peak season of dengue fever will arrive in the next three months, the Center hopes that South Taiwan could control the spread of dengue fever effectively this year.
(Source: Taiwan Yahoo News 3 May 2005)
Philippines: Dengue fever, Diarrhoea
The Cebu City Health Office of the Philippines reported that there were 65% and 11% increase in dengue fever and diarrhoea cases respectively from January to March compared with the same period last year.
(Source: ASEAN Diseases Surveillance 3 May 2005)
Malaysia (Sabah): Diarrhoea outbreak
In Kota Belud district of Sabah State, 150 children suffered from diarrhoea and fever over the past week. Health officials initially ruled out cholera and typhoid. Water samples were taken from villages to investigate the cause of the outbreak.
(Source: ASEAN Disease Surveillance 4 May 2005)
In Indonesia , 4 children were confirmed to suffer from poliomyelitis. Officials said that other suspected cases, all of whom had been recorded in the same area of West Java province, were still being investigated.
Laboratory investigation showed that the polio virus came from Nigeria, via Saudi Arabia. Experts suspected that the virus strain might have been carried by migrant workers or pilgrims visiting Muslim holy sites in Saudi Arabia.
(Source: ProMED-mail 5 May 2005)
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) jointly released a report which indicated that over 100 million of people died of malaria annually and 350 to 500 million people were infected by the disease worldwide. The report also said that children had become the major victims of malaria, and 90% of the dead cases were sub-Saharan children. On average, a sub-Saharan child died of malaria every 30 seconds.
(Source: WHO & UNICEF 3 May 2005)