Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (31 July 2005)
In New Mexico, USA, local authority reported that an adolescent from Santa Fe County had contracted bubonic Plague. The patient had been hospitalised and was recovering. Plague cases had been seen in cats, dogs and rodents in many of the north central counties of New Mexico.
(Source: ProMED-mail 25-26 July 2005)
Israel: West Nile Virus Infection
The health authority of Israel reported the first West Nile Virus Infection this year in mid-July. Residents were advised to remove mosquito breeding sites.
(Source: ProMED-mail 31 July 2005)
Kazakhstan: Avian Influenza, human
In Pavlodar of Kazakhstan, a poultry farm worker was suspected to have contracted Avian Influenza and had been hospitalised. About 600 domestic geese died of the disease between 20-30 July in the nearby region.
(Source: ProMED-mail 31 July 2005)
[Editor's Note: For more information on Avian Influenza, travellers may go to the Influenza page of Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health.]
Turkey: Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever
A total of 41 people had contracted Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in the central province of Yozgat of Turkey, one of whom had died. Local health teams had taken measures to prevent spread of the disease.
(Source: ProMED-mail 29 July 2005)
Angola: Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever
As of 28 July, a total of 368 cases of Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever were reported in Angola, of which 323 died. A total of 45 contacts in Uige Province were being followed up currently.
(Source: ProMED-mail 29 July 2005)
In Matara, southwestern part of Sri Lanka, the number of Dengue Fever cases increased by 23% recently.
(Source: ASEAN Disease Surveillance 26 July 2005)
In Tahoua region of Niger, a total of 49 Cholera cases (including 5 deaths) were reported in the last 2 weeks.
(Source: World Health Organization 29 July 2005)
The Center for Disease Control, Taiwan reported an outbreak of Melioidosis in southern Taiwan. A total of 16 cases (including 6 deaths) were reported in Tainan and Kaoshiong from 11 to 29 July. It was suspected that the source of infection was related to the recent flooding in southern Taiwan.
(Source: Center for Disease Control, Taiwan 31 July 2005)
Mainland: Streptococcus suis Infection
The Ministry of Health of the Mainland reported that, as of 31 July, the total number of Streptococcus suis Infection in Sichuan was 181. Among the patients, 34 had died and 17 had been discharged.
(Source: Ministry of Health, China 31 July 2005)
In Penang of Malaysia, 6 patients had been diagnosed with Malaria since 17 July. Two of them died of the disease. Local government had taken measures to contain the disease.
(Source: ASEAN Diseases Surveillance 26 July 2005, ProMED-mail 27 July 2005)
Two new Poliomyelitis cases were confirmed in Indonesia in West Java province, bringing the total number of cases to 155. One case was from Cianjur and the other was from a newly infected district, Kota Bekasi.
(Source: World Health Organization 29 July 2005)
In Ben Tre province of Vietnam, the health authority recently killed more than 400 fowls infected with H5N1 Avian Influenza at a local farm. There were two recurrences of bird flu so far in the province and nearly 17 000 fowls had been culled.
An outbreak of Avian Influenza had been reported in a chicken farm in eastern Japan. The location of the latest outbreak was about 6 km from where the initial case was found in late June 2005. Some chickens at the farm had been tested positive for a strain of the H5 virus and authorities would conduct further tests to confirm the subtype of the virus.
(Source: ProMED-mail 27 July 2005, ASEAN Disease Surveillance 28 July 2005)
[Editor's Note: For more information on Avian Influenza, travellers may go to the Influenza page of Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health.]