Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (26 March 2006)
Mainland: Avian Influenza, human
The Ministry of Health in the Mainland had confirmed the first case of human infection with the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus in Shanghai. The case occurred in a 29-year-old female migrant worker. She was hospitalised in Shanghai on 15 March with fever and symptoms of pneumonia and died on 21 March. Her source of infection was under investigation. To date, China had reported 16 cases of H5N1 infection, of which 11 had been fatal.
(Source: World Health Organization and Department of Health, HKSAR 24 March 2006)
Malaysia: Avian Influenza, poultry
In Malaysia, officials would slaughter more than 200 birds in Penang state's Permatang Bagak Village after tests confirmed that at least 6 chickens died of H5N1 Avian Influenza there last week, indicating that the disease had spread from central to northern Malaysia.
(Source: ProMED-mail 22 March 2006)
Pakistan: Avian Influenza, poultry
In Pakistan, the country’s first 2 cases of the H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza virus had been confirmed in chickens in the country's North West Frontier Province. Pakistan had culled 25 000 chickens in the towns of Charsadda and Abbottabad early this month.
(Source: ProMED-mail 21 March 2006)
Cambodia: Avian Influenza, human
The Ministry of health in Cambodia had confirmed the country’s fifth case of human infection with the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus. The case occurred in a 3-year-old girl from Kampong Speu Province, west of Phnom Penh. She developed fever on 14 March, was hospitalised on 20 March, and died on the next day. The child had played with diseased chickens before.
(Source: World Health Organization 24 March 2006)
Azerbaijan: Avian influenza, Human
In Azerbaijan, of the samples from 11 patients under investigation for possible H5N1 Avian Influenza infection, positive results were obtained for 7 of these patients. Five of them were fatal. Six of the cases occurred in Salyan Rayon in the south-eastern part of the country. All 6 cases resided in Daikyand. The World Health Organization team was investigating the source of infection in Daikyand settlement.
(Source: World Health Organization 21 March 2006)
Albania: Avian Influenza, poultry
Albania found its 2nd case of H5N1 Avian Influenza in 4 dead chickens in the Peze Helmes area near the capital Tirana. Albania confirmed its 1st case of H5N1 3 weeks ago in a chicken in the southern Sarande region, near the Greek border.
(Source: ProMED-mail 23 March 2006)
Israel: Avian influenza, poultry
H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza virus had been detected in dead turkeys in 2 more locations in Israel, namely Kibbutz Nir Oz and Moshav Amei Oz, bringing the number of sites at which the disease had been found to 6.
(Source: ProMED-mail 22 March 2006)
Palestine: Avian Influenza, poultry
Dead chickens had been found in the central Strip Netzarim in Gaza Strip, Palestine. This was the first outbreak of H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza in the Palestinian territories.
(Source: ProMED-mail 22 March 2006)
Jordan: Avian Influenza, poultry
In Jordan, the H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza virus was detected in at least 3 dead turkeys at a domestic farm in Ajloun.
(Source: ProMED-mail 24 March 2006)
Kazakhstan: Avian Influenza, bird
In western Kazakhstan, dead swans were tested positive for H5 strain of Avian Influenza. Birds in Kazakhstan were also hit by an H5N1 outbreak last year.
(Source: ProMED-mail 21 March 2006)
Romania: Avian Influenza, poultry
In Bucharest of Romania, dead poultry found in a village were infected with the H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza. More than 100 000 birds would be killed to stop the bird flu virus from spreading. The total number of bird flu outbreaks in Romania was about 50.
(Source: ProMED-mail 23 March 2006)
Egypt reported that a 17-year-old boy might have contracted Avian Influenza, bringing the number of confirmed / suspected human cases of this disease in this country to 4 since mid-March. One of them had died.
(Source: World Health Organization 20 March 2006 and ProMED-mail 22 March 2006)
Africa : Meningococcal Meningitis
During the first 10 weeks of this year, outbreaks of Meningococcal Meningitis in 32 districts in 7 countries in the African Meningitis Belt had occurred. In these affected countries, a total of 5 719 suspected cases, including 580 deaths, had been reported. Cases had occurred in two foci, one in West Africa, affecting Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Niger, and characterised by the predominance of serogroup A. Outbreaks in the second epidemic focus, in East Africa, affecting Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, were mainly caused by serogroup W135.
In Burkina Faso, 3 636 suspected cases including 399 deaths had been reported.
In Sudan, 28 suspected cases including 1 death had been reported in West Darfur State.
In Uganda, 37 suspected cases including 5 deaths had been reported in Gulu district.
(Source: World Health Organization 21 March 2006)
India: Meningococcal Meningitis
In Delhi of India, 486 cases of Meningococcal Meningitis with 34 deaths were reported in the last 3 months. From the areas under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the central zone had reported 25 confirmed cases, followed by Sadar Paharganj with 24 cases, Civil Lines with 20 cases and Karol Bagh with 15 cases.
(Source: ProMED-mail 21 March 2006)
Between 28 January and 20 March 2006, a total number of 8 923 cases and 238 deaths of acute watery diarrhoea were reported in the whole area of southern Sudan. Yei and Juba towns were the two most affected areas. Vibrio cholerae Inaba had been laboratory confirmed as causative agent. Control measures including strengthening of the surveillance and reporting system, improving uniform case management and water chlorination had been implemented.
In Malawi, Cholera outbreak had killed 51 people and infected over 4 000 others.
Apart from southern and central provinces of Mozambique, Cholera epidemic had reached its northern area of Nampula. As of 15 March, there were 177 cases and 9 deaths in Nampula.
In Luanda of Angola, Cholera outbreak had caused 551 cases and 18 deaths since 13 February.
On Tanzania's Island of Zanzibar, 3 people had died and 9 admitted to hospital following a Cholera outbreak.
In Arua of Uganda, 49 cases of Cholera and one death were reported since early February.
(Source: World Health Organization 22 March 2006, ProMED-mail 20 and 24 March 2006 )
Two new cases of Poliomyelitis had been reported from two regions in Somalia: Lower Juba, southern Somalia and Mudug region, northeastern Somalia. The outbreak also threatened the progress made in Mogadishu. A total of 199 children was affected to date. A nation-wide polio vaccination campaign would be launched on 26 March.
(Source: World Health Organization 24 March 2006)
On 17 March, World Health Organization received reports of a possible outbreak of Botulism in Banluang District, Nan Province, northern Thailand. As of 20 March, 152 of the 170 people attended a Buddish festival in a local village developed symptoms of swallowing difficulty, slurred speech, drooping eyelids, abdominal discomfort, and muscle weakness. All of the affected people had eaten pickled bamboo shoots. To date, no deaths had been reported.
(Source: World Health Organization 22 March 2006)