Current Travel Health News

The Mainland's Health Ministry issued an alert for Denge Fever, as the peak season continued in the southern China. A total of 502 cases have been reported in September 2006 but no one has died from the disease. Most of the cases had occurred in Guangdong Province, where 492 cases have been reported.

 

(Source: ProMED-mail 24 October 2006)

In Pakistan, Denge Fever has killed 8 more people in the southern city of Karachi, raising the death toll to 20 over the past 4 months. Health official reported around 1 000 suspected cases in Karachi.

 

[Editor’s note: Neighbouring India has reported nearly 5 000 cases of Denge Fever, including 94 deaths since August this year.]

 

In Russia, more than 1 000 people in the Republic of Tyva have experienced tick-bites and sought medical advice since the beginning of this year. Out of which, a total of 56 cases of Tick-borne Encephalitis were confirmed so far. The principal causes of high morbidity of Tick-borne Encephalitis were reductions in tick control activities and the limited extent of preventive vaccination.

 

[Editor's Note: Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral infection. It is transmitted by the bite of infective ticks or by consumption of infected milk. Incubation period ranges from 7-14 days. Symptoms include fever, vomiting and paralysis. Mortality rate is about 15-20%. Travellers should adopt measures similar to anti-mosquito measures to avoid tick bite and avoid consumption of unpasteurised milk.]

 

A total of 156 cases of Lyme Disease have been reported in Russia this year compared with 81 cases last year, an increase of almost 2 folds. Most of the cases have been reported from the Pskov Region. Among them, five cases were tested positive for Lyme Disease.

 

[Editor’s note:  Lyme Disease is an infectious disease caused by spirochaete. The disease is characterised by a distinctive skin lesion, systemic symptoms including malaise, fatigue, fever, headache, stiff neck, muscle and joint pain, and lymph node swelling. Neurological, cardiac and joint abnormalities may occur in varying combinations over months to years. Lyme Disease is transmitted by ticks. There is no natural person-to-person transmission. Wild rodents and deer are important host of the vector tick species. To prevent acquiring the disease, travellers should wear light-coloured clothing that covers legs and arms, tuck tousers into socks and apply tick repellent such as diethyltoluamide to skin or permethrin to sleeve and trouser legs.]

 

As of 20 October, health officials in Russia have reported more than 2 000 cases of Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in the Republic of Bashkortostan this year, of whom 5 died. Other regions in Russia which had marked increases in this disease included Chuvashia, Orenburg and the Republic of Mariy EL.

 

Three members of a group of Scottish veterans contracted Legionellosis after a trip to Malaysia. Tests were being carried out on a fourth group member thought to have contracted the disease. It was hard to confirm where the disease originated, since the group had stayed in a number of hotels during the trip.

 

In UK, Leptospirosis has been diagnosed in 2 men recently returned from a fishing holiday at a resort in the Picardie region of northern France. One case has been confirmed. Both patients were at the same resort in mid-September, and became unwell about a week after their return to the UK.

 

More than 56 600 cases of Cholera have been reported in Angola since February, resulting in more than 2 300 deaths.  Lunda Sul and Moxico were the only two provinces without Cholera cases.

 

In Burundi, the health authorities reported a total of 175 suspected cases of Cholera (128 in Bujumbura Mairie, 20 in Mutambu and 27 in Kabezi).  No fatal case has been reported so far.

 

In Chad, more than 900 people have been diagnosed with Cholera since April 2006, including more than 200 cases in the capital N'djamena. There were 1 and 4 deaths in N'djamena and the Lake Chad regions, respectively.

 

In Ethiopia, there were 29 880 cases of acute watery diarrhea, with the death toll rising to 279. Some of the cases have been confirmed to be Cholera.

 

In Sierra Leone, 74 persons have died from a Cholera outbreak that has also left 1 114 others affected in the capital Freetown. The outbreak was more prevalent in the eastern part of Freetown. There were also Cholera cases in the northern rural districts of Kambia and Tonkolili.

 

Health authorities in Australia were investigating a possible link between a salmonella Food Poisoning outbreak in the eastern states and rockmelons from north Queensland. There has been a dramatic surge in salmonella Food Poisoning around the country, with about 100 confirmed cases in the past month.  New South Wales has been hardest hit with 50 cases.

 

According to an India newspaper report, some 200 children with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease have been seen in a hospital in Kozhikode (previously Calicut) by a pediatrician during the past several months. No virological study was reported.