Current Travel Health News
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. 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.
For more information on dengue fever, including the latest situation in neighbouring and overseas countries and areas, please visit the Centre for Health Protection’s thematic webpage at https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/38847.html
Take precautions against Mpox (also known as monkeypox) when travelling abroad
Mpox (also known as monkeypox) is a zoonotic disease caused by Mpox virus. Often found in tropical forest regions of Central and West Africa.
It is mainly transmitted by contact with infected animals, human-to-human transmission is limited. Incubation period is mainly from 6 to 13 days, symptoms are similar with Smallpox infection, but less severe.
Since 6 May 2022, multiple outbreaks were reported in Europe and North America countries, and many patient are self-identified as bisexual or men who have sex with men. Travellers planning to travel in these areas should avoid contact
with infected person. Travellers returning from these areas shall notify the doctor to seek medical treatment and inform the travel situation if feeling unwell.
For more information on Mpox, including the latest situation in overseas countries or places, please visit the World Health Organization and Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection’s thematic webpages at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/monkeypox#tab=tab_1
https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/105683.html
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Cholera [Update]
8 May 2023
A total of 329 new cases of the
Cholera epidemic including 11 deaths were recorded in two weeks in two health zones including Katuba and Kisanga, towns located west of the city of Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga,
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Measles [Update]
8 May 2023
As of 16 April,
Democratic Republic of the Congo had registered at least 78,396 new cases of
Measles and 921 deaths, compared to 148,638 cases and 1,875 deaths recorded in 2022.
Ghana: Lassa Fever [Update]
8 May 2023
Ghana Health Service announced this week the end of the
Lassa fever outbreak which began in February. No new case has been recorded since the 1st of March, 2023. A total of 27 confirmed cases of Lassa fever and one death (CFR: 3 %) were reported.
India: Anthrax
8 May 2023
Health officials in the municipality of Koraput in
India report an
Anthrax outbreak in the villages of Dasmantpur block in which 12 cases and 1 death have been reported.
Brazil: Dengue fever, Chikungunya and Zika virus infection [Update]
8 May 2023
Through the end of April this year, the Brazil Ministry of Health reports the number of probable cases of Dengue went from 690,800 cases last year to 899,500 this year, with 333 confirmed deaths.
Concerning Chikungunya, in the same period, 86.9 thousand cases of the disease were notified, with 19 confirmed deaths.
Regarding Zika data, by the end of April, 6,200 cases of the disease were reported.
Paraguay: Dengue and Chikungunya Fever [Update]
8 May 2023
In the last three weeks, 5,235
Chikungunya cases and 663
Dengue were registered in
Paraguay.
Argentina: Dengue Fever [Update]
8 May 2023
The
Argentina Ministry of Health reported 84,433 cases of
Dengue through the end of April, including 56 deaths.
Philippines: Pertussis
8 May 2023
From January 1 through April 8, the
Philippines Department of Health have reported 25
Pertussis cases, up from five cases reported during the same period in 2022.
Philippines: Leptospirosis [Update]
8 May 2023
From January 1 to April 8, 1,152
Leptospirosis cases have been reported in the
Philippines, up from 490 cases during the same period last year. Officials have reported 113 leptospirosis deaths through April 8 this year, up from 69 reported during the same period in 2022.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mpox (monkeypox)
8 May 2023
According to World Health Organization, 106 new
Mpox cases have been reported in
Democratic Republic of the Congo in the past 2 weeks.
Ethiopia: Measles
5 May 2023
Between 12 August 2021 and 1 May 2023, 16,814 laboratory-confirmed
Measles cases and 182 deaths – with a Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) of 1.1% – have been reported in
Ethiopia.
South Africa: Rabies [Update]
5 May 2023
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of
South Africa reports three cases of
Rabies were confirmed from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Eastern Cape (EC) provinces collectively from March 25 to April 24, 2023. This brings the total cases in 2023 to date to five confirmed.
United Kingdom: Measles
5 May 2023
The
UK Health Security Agency reports that between 1 January and 20 April this year, there have been 49 cases of
Measles compared to 54 cases in the whole of 2022. Thirty three (67%) of these cases were in London.
Malaysia: Pertussis
4 May 2023
Sabah,
Malaysia recorded 76 cases of
Pertussis, including one death, from January until 27 April 2023. Health Minister said this showed an increase of 986% from only 7 cases during the same period last year.
Brazil: Dengue Fever [Update]
3 May 2023
The State Department of Health of Paraná,
Brazil reported 6,889 new cases and six deaths from
Dengue compared to the previous week's report. To date, Paraná has registered a total of 35,433 confirmed cases and 21 deaths.
Kyrgyzstan: Measles [Update]
3 May 2023
Health officials in
Kyrgyzstan reported 265
Measles cases through the end of April, with most of the cases from Osh.
Nigeria: Meningitis
2 May 2023
From 1 October 2022 to 16 April 2023, a total of 1686 suspected
Meningitis cases, 532 confirmed cases and 124 deaths (CFR: 7%) have been reported in
Nigeria. Jigawa state accounts for 74% (n = 1252) of all suspected cases.
Nigeria: Lassa Fever [Update]
2 May 2023
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel notice for
Nigeria as an ongoing
Lassa Fever outbreak has been reported in 26 states this year. From the beginning of the year through April 16, Nigeria health officials report 877 confirmed Lassa Fever cases, including 152 deaths among the confirmed cases (17.3% CFR).
American Samoa: Measles
2 May 2023
In American Samoa, the Department of Health now reports two laboratory confirmed Measles cases and 49 probable cases. The second confirmed case is a 4-year-old boy from Tafuna who goes to the same school as the eight-year-old girl who was the first confirmed case.
All 49 probable cases to date are in children aged from two months to 13-years old, officials note.
Indonesia: Measles [Update]
2 May 2023
Between 1 January and 3 April 2023, a total of 2161
Measles cases (848 laboratory-confirmed and 1313 clinically compatible [suspected]) have been reported across 18 of 38 provinces in
Indonesia, primarily from the provinces of West Java (796 cases), Central Papua (770 cases), and Banten (197 cases).
Nigeria: Diphtheria [Update]
2 May 2023
The
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) reports from 14 May 2022 to 9 April 2023, 1439 suspected
Diphtheria cases have been reported, of which 557 (39%) have been confirmed, including 73 deaths among the confirmed cases (case fatality ratio of 13%).
France: Invasive Meningococcal Infections
2 May 2023
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Malaria
2 May 2023
A total of 670 people including 494 children under 5 died of
Malaria in Kasaï province in
Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2022. In the province of Kasaï, malaria represents 32% of hospital consultations in 2022. 1,187,856 cases have been recorded.
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar: Polio [Update]
2 May 2023
Two countries—the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Madagascar—reported more Polio cases this week, all involving vaccine-derived strains.
In the DRC, officials reported 15 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) cases from three different provinces. Also, the country had 21 more circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases from seven different provinces.
Elsewhere, Madagascar reported four cVDPV1 cases, lifting its total this year to nine.
(Source: CIDRAP 29 April 2023)
Mainland China: Avian Influenza (H9N2 and H1N1v) [Update]
2 May 2023
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed three new H9N2
Avian Flu cases in
Mainland China, all involving children living in or with connections to Hunan province. The WHO also reported that a girl in Sichuan province and a girl in Jiangsu province contracted H1N1v flu.
(Source: CIDRAP 27 April 2023)