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	343	World Health Organization, 21 June 2018
Brazil	110,291	World Health Organization, 28 June 2018
Cambodia	1,488	World Health Organization, 21 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	59	National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan, 26 June 2018
Lao PDR	849	World Health Organization, 21 June 2018
Macau	1”	Health Bureau of Macau, 19 June 2018
Malaysia	27,103	World Health Organization, 21 June 2018
Mexico	10,645	World Health Organization, 28 June 2018
Philippines	20,108	World Health Organization, 21 June 2018
Singapore	1,353^@	Singapore National Environment Agency, 28 June 2018
Sri Lanka	24,,518	Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, 28 June 2018
Taiwan	0”	CDC, ROC (Taiwan), 28 June 2018
Thailand	22,539	Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, 27 June 2018
Vietnam	22,842	World Health Organization, 21 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.

Taiwan: Dengue Fever

Taiwan recorded the first case of local dengue fever this year. The patient is a 30-year-old man of Kaohsiung City.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 2 July 2018)

India: Japanese Encephalitis [Update]

The Dibrugarh district, Assam, India reported 18 people have died from Japanese encephalitis (5 cases) and acute encephalitis syndrome (13 cases) this year.

(Source: ProMED-mail 1 July 2018)

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Poliomyelitis [Update]

Three new cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were reported in the past week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The total number of officially reported cVDPV2 cases in the DRC in 2018 is 7.

(Source: ProMED-mail 28 June 2018)

India: Japanese Encephalitis

Health officials of India reported an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in Dibrugarh district. So far, 35 cases of Japanese encephalitis have been reported from this district, including 4 deaths.

(Source: ProMED-mail 28 June 2018)

France: Measles [Update]

French health officials reported a decrease in measles cases in the current outbreak. An average of 50 cases has been reported weekly during the past month. As of June 24, 2018, 2,567 measles cases have been reported since November 6, 2017.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 28 June 2018)

Ukraine: Measles [Update]

Since the beginning of the year, 23,131 people – 9,327 adults and 13,804 children – have contracted measles in Ukraine.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 27 June 2018)

Brazil: Yellow Fever [Update]

One locally acquired, confirmed human case of yellow fever (YF) was reported on June 26, 2018, in Mato Grosso State. The last confirmed human YF case in this state occurred in 2009. More than 1,300 laboratory-confirmed human cases of YF (including > 600 deaths) have been reported since December 2017 in Brazil.

(Source: ProMED-mail 27 June 2018)

Mainland: Avian Influenza, poultry

An outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza was reported in a poultry farm in Qinghai.

(Source: ProMED-mail 27 June 2018)

Kenya: Rift Valley Fever [Update]

The Rift Valley fever outbreak in Kenya rapidly increased in the last week, with additional 44 cases and 6 deaths reported. So far, 54 cases of Rift Valley fever have been reported, including 11 deaths.

(Source: Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy 26 June 2018)