Travel Health Service Year 2017

Current Travel Health News

Take precautions against dengue fever when travelling abroad

Dengue fever is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. This includes various popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong people including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Travellers planning to travel in these areas should take precautions against the disease.

Cumulative reported number of dengue cases since 01/01/2018 *

	Cumulative reported no. of cases since 01/01/2018	Source of information and date of report
Australia	300	World Health Organization, 7 June 2018
Brazil	110,291	World Health Organization, 21 June 2018
Cambodia	960	World Health Organization, 7 June 2018
Guangdong	38	Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province, 14 June 2018
India	5,613	Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, India, 29 April 2018
Japan	56	National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan, 19 June 2018
Lao PDR	656	World Health Organization, 7 June 2018
Macau	1”	Health Bureau of Macau, 19 June 2018
Malaysia	24,095	World Health Organization, 7 June 2018
Mexico	10,645	World Health Organization, 21 June 2018
Philippines	20,108	World Health Organization, 7 June 2018
Singapore	1,282^@	Singapore National Environment Agency, 21 June 2018
Sri Lanka	23,274	Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, 21 June 2018
Taiwan	0”	CDC, ROC (Taiwan), 21 June 2018
Thailand	19,804	Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, 19 June 2018
Vietnam	20,522	World Health Organization, 7 June 2018

* Dengue reporting systems vary by country/area.
@ Cumulative cases since 31 December 2017.
“ Locally-acquired

Travellers should stay vigilant against dengue fever and adopt the following personal preventive measures against mosquito bite:

*	Always wear loose, light-coloured long-sleeved tops and trousers;
*	Stay in air-conditioned residence or places with mosquito screens;
*	If mosquito screen or air-conditioning is absent, aerosol insecticide and bed nets are advised;
*	Use insect repellents containing DEET on exposed skin and clothing;
*	Use insect repellents containing DEET apart from applying sunscreen while staying in beaches;
*	Re-apply insect repellents according to instructions during the trip;
*	Carry a portable bed nets and apply permethrin on it as well as to clothes if travelling to rural areas where dengue fever is prevalent.

Travellers returning from areas where dengue fever is prevalent should seek medical advice as soon as possible if they feel unwell and provide travel details to their doctors.

Papua New Guinea: Poliomyelitis

A laboratory-confirmed case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1), with symptom onset on April 28, 2018, has been reported in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. This was the first circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus case in more than 18 years in Papua New Guinea.

(Source: World Health Organization 25 June 2018)

Philippines: Dengue Fever

From January 1 to June 11 this year, 1,398 dengue cases have been recorded in the Pangasinan province. This is a significant increases compared with 592 cases during the same period last year.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 24 June 2018)

Serbia: Measles [Update]

From Oct. 2017 through June 21, 2018, 5,598 measles cases were recorded, of which 2837 were laboratory confirmed. The majority of patients are in age groups younger than five and over 30 years of age and 95 percent of those infected were either unvaccinated, incomplete vaccinated or unknown vaccine status.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 23 June 2018)

USA: Hepatitis A [Update]

The cases of hepatitis A in Kentucky of USA continue to increase. The Kentucky Department for Public Health reported that Kentucky now has 832 cases of hepatitis A and 6 deaths related to the outbreak.

(Source: ProMED-mail 21 June 2018)

Kenya: Rift Valley Fever [Update]

Kenya reported Rift Valley Fever outbreaks among people and goats. At least 13 people have died and 234 cases of Rift Valley Fever have been confirmed in north-eastern counties of Kenya since last week. Local government has urged people to avoid eating red meat and drinking raw milk.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 21 June 2018)

Ukraine: Measles [Update]

The measles cases in Ukraine continue to increase. For the first 24 weeks of 2018, a total of 21,894 cases (8,557 adults and 13,037 children) have been reported.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 21 June 2018)

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ebola Virus Disease [Update]

Since 17 May 2018, no new confirmed Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases have been reported in Bikoro and Wangata health zones, while the last confirmed case-patient in Iboko developed symptoms on 2 June 2018 and died on 9 June. From 1 April through 18 June 2018, a total of 60 EVD cases, including 28 deaths, have been reported in Democratic Republic of the Congo.

(Source: World Health Organization 20 June 2018)

Thailand: Dengue Fever [Update]

From Jan 1 through June 18, a total of 19,804 dengue cases were reported from all 77 provinces in Thailand. Phuket remains the province with the highest morbidity rate.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 20 June 2018)

Macau: Dengue Fever

Macau reported its first case of locally acquired dengue fever in 2018 on June 19.

(Source: Macau Health Bureau 19 June 2018)

Nigeria: Cholera

Nigeria reported a new outbreak of cholera in the Niger State of central Nigeria, which has affected 60 more people, including at least 10 deaths.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 19 June 2018)