Current Travel Health News

Officials in Burkina Faso in West Africa are reporting an unprecedented surge in Dengue Fever this year. In the past week (November 10-17), the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 23,747 additional cases and 72 deaths. Cumulatively, 155,426 cases and 421 deaths have been reported in all 13 regions of the country.

The dengue epidemic had been accompanied since September by the appearance of another mosquito-borne disease, Chikungunya. The MOH has reported 473 cumulative cases (238 confirmed and 235 suspected) and no deaths.

Russia health officials reported that in November, in the Kolosovsky district, a case of human Rabies was registered, which ended in death. The victim was bitten by a dog on October 10, but did not seek medical help.

The Philippines Ministry of Health report an Anthrax outbreak in one barangay (village) in Luzon.There were five cases linked to the consumption of carabao meat. The meat is said to have been butchered eight hours after the animal died. One case was lab-confirmed for Bacillus anthracis, while the others were considered positive based on symptoms.

Through October 2023, Malaysia has reported a more than 100 percent rise in Dengue cases in 2023, reporting 96,443 cumulative cases, a significant increase from the 48,109 cases reported in 2022 during the same period. Dengue fatalities are also up this yea—73 deaths from dengue-related complications were recorded by 22 October 2023, compared to 29 deaths during the same period in 2022.

In the Philippines as of mid-October, a total of 155,823 dengue cases have been reported. The number of cases is 30% lower compared to the same period in 2022 (n=221,597). From 1 January to 14 October 2023, there have been 543 deaths (CFR 0.38%) as compared to 788 deaths (CFR 0.36%; 31% decrease) reported in the same period in 2022.

Health authorities in Laos report that as of November 15, 33,609 dengue fever cases have been reported since the beginning of the year. This total is up from the approximately 28,000 cases reported during the same period in 2022. There have now been 19 deaths reported in 2023.

The Thailand Bureau of Epidemiology has reported 132,126 total dengue cases through mid-November 2023. This includes 142 dengue related fatalities. This compares to the 48,679 cases and 32 deaths reported in all of 2022.

The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated on November 14 that according to statistics, there were 1,358 new local cases of dengue fever from November 7 to November 13 this year. This brings the total for 2023 to date to a total of 23,256 local cases, with 20,084 cases in Tainan City, 1,749 cases in Kaohsiung City and 671 cases in Yunlin County.

The National Environment Agency in Singapore, 8,591 dengue cases have been reported in the first 45 weeks of 2023. Cases are down dramatically from last year’s numbers when some 30,000 cases were reported at this time.

Through the end of October 2023, Vietnam health officials have reported 127,907 cumulative dengue cases including 33 deaths (CFR: 0.02%), which is a decrease by 55.3% compared to the same period in 2022 (286,361 cases including 136 deaths).

The Directorate General of Health Services in Bangladesh reports 299,964 total dengue cases with about one third of the cases reported in Dhaka City and the remaining two thirds reported outside the city. The death toll now resides at 1,543. Both the total cases and deaths in Bangladesh this year dwarfs the previous records of 101,000 and 281, respectively.

India’s National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control reports 94,198 total dengue cases through September 17, including 91 deaths. This compares to the 233,251 cases and 303 deaths recorded in 2022.

The Government of Sri Lanka reports a total of 70,390 dengue cases, an increase 1532 cases from the previous week. In all of 2022, Sri Lanka reported 76,689 total dengue cases.

Six countries reported more Polio cases this week, including Pakistan, which reported its fifth wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case of the year, according to the latest weekly update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The Pakistani patient is from Sindh province. The five other countries, all in Africa, reported more vaccine-derived cases. Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea, Nigeria, and Somalia reported more circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases. The DRC also reported four more cases involving circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Mauritanian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported suspected cases of Diphtheria in mid-October. The first case had onset of symptoms on 8 October 2023. Through November 11, the MOH has reported a cumulative 20 suspected diphtheria cases, including five deaths from Bassiknou district.

South Africa’s Department of Health reported 11 new diphtheria cases (9 confirmed and 2 suspected) and one new death among inmates at Pollsmoor Correctional Centre in Western Cape province.

Bangladesh is still in the grips of a record Dengue outbreak, with deaths topping 1,500, according to government figures and media reports. Just today, the country reported 24 new deaths, putting the total at 1,520. Officials also reported 1,623 more hospitalizations across the country. So far, nearly 290,000 people have been infected by the mosquito-borne virus.

In Zambia, officials reported 17 new suspected cases and no new deaths of Anthrax. Cumulatively, 352 suspected cases and four deaths (CFR: 1.1 %) of cutaneous anthrax have been reported this year from seven of 10 provinces in Zambia.

Zimbabwe officials reported 15 new suspected cases and no new deaths of cutaneous anthrax from Gokwe South and North districts, Midlands province. Cumulatively, 384 suspected cases and no deaths of cutaneous anthrax have been reported from one of 10 provinces in Zimbabwe.

Florida health officials reported 18 additional locally-acquired Dengue Fever cases in Miami-Dade County. This brings the state total to 128 indigenous cases—Broward (4), Hardee, Miami-Dade (121), Palm Beach, and Polk counties.

The Burkina Faso Ministry of Health has reported 26,946 new Dengue cases and 187 deaths in the past three weeks.

The Public Health Agency of Sweden reports an increase in whooping cough, or Pertussis in the country this year. In October, 43 cases were reported nationally, four of the cases were children under one year old. A total of 91 cases of whooping cough have been reported in 2023.