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.
Detailed information on the latest Dengue fever situation in Hong Kong, as well as neighbouring and overseas countries and areas, can be found at the Centre for Health Protection’s website: https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/df_imported_cases_and_overseas_figures_eng.pdf
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
Philippines: Pertussis [Update]
5 April 2024
In a follow-up on the
Pertussis outbreak in the
Philippines, The Department of Health (DOH) now reports a total of 862 pertussis cases since the start of the year through March 23 (30 times that of the same period last year). To date, 49 fatalities have been reported.
Philippines: Dengue Fever, Chikungunya Fever and Measles [Update]
5 April 2024
Officials with the Department of Health (DOH)-10 in Cagayan de Oro, the Philippines report increases in the infectious diseases—dengue, chikungunya and measles—during the first quarter of 2024.
The region has seen a 34 percent increase in Dengue cases, from 3,032 during the first three months of 2023 to 4,071 this year.
Chikungunya cases in Northern Mindanao has risen 1,171 percent in the first months of 2024— from 7 to 89 cases.
Measles cases surged by 94 percent in 2024 with 103 cases, compared to the 53 cases reported during the same period in 2023.
Czech Republic: Pertussis [Update]
5 April 2024
In a follow-up on the Pertussis, or whooping cough in the Czech Republic, health authorities reported an additional 1,044 cases during the past week, bringing the total for the first three months of 2024 to 5,297.
This is the highest number of registered cases of the infectious disease in the country in a single calendar year since the 1960s.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mpox (monkeypox) [Update]
5 April 2024
WHO reported that a severe
Mpox outbreak in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues at a brisk pace, with cases in the first quarter of 2024 triple that of the same period last year. More than 4,500 cases have been reported so far this year, up from nearly 4,000 reported in the middle of March. Nearly 300 deaths have been reported in 2024.
USA: Influenza
3 April 2024
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reports a human infection with a
novel influenza A virus. The patient was infected with an influenza A (H1N2) variant (A(H1N2)v) virus. This is the first human infection with a variant influenza A virus reported in the
United States in 2024.
Argentina: Dengue Fever [Update]
3 April 2024
So far in the 2023/2024 season 180,529 cases of
dengue (90% indigenous, 7% under investigation and 3% imported) were registered in
Argentina, of which 163,419 were registered from Epidemiological week 1 to week 12 of 2024.
Indonesia: Dengue Fever
3 April 2024
In
Indonesia, Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, said that that the increase in
Dengue cases will continue and it has not yet reached its peak. As of March 26, or the 13th epidemiological week, dengue cases in Indonesia were reported to have reached 53,131 cases. In addition, 404 deaths due to dengue were reported.
Brazil: Dengue Fever [Update]
3 April 2024
The
Brazil Ministry of Health reports the total probable
Dengue cases has topped 2.6 million cases since the beginning of the year. Since Jan. 1, the number of probable cases of the disease reached 2,624,300, including
991 deaths. Another 1,483 deaths are under investigation.
USA: Dengue Fever [Update]
3 April 2024
The Florida Department of Health of
USA reported an additional locally-acquired
Dengue fever case during the past week. The new confirmed case was reported in Miami-Dade County.
Senegal: Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever
3 April 2024
Singapore: Dengue Fever [Update]
3 April 2024
Singapore’s National Environment Agency reported a 114 percent increase in
Dengue fever cases during the first quarter of 2024. From January 1 through March 28 this year, officials report 5,039 total cases, compared to the 2,360 cases reported in the same period last year.
Greece: Meningococcal Disease
3 April 2024
Greek officials with the National Public Health Organization report that while the mandatory notifiable disease,
Meningococcal disease, was at its lowest levels during COVID-19, they report in 2023, the incidence of meningococcal disease increased reaching prepandemic levels and in 2024, a total of 12 cases from all over the country have been reported.
USA: Pertussis [Update]
3 April 2024
A Public Health Advisory has been issued in Marin County, California,
USA due to an outbreak of
Pertussis, or whooping cough. In December 2023, Marin County Public Health began seeing a rise in reported pertussis cases, primarily among adolescents. Since December, the Communicable Disease unit has investigated 77 cases of pertussis, significantly elevated above normal rates.
Philippines: Pertussis
3 April 2024
The
Philippines Department of Health reports 28 new
Pertussis, or whooping cough cases recorded from March 10 to 16, bringing the total cases to 568 from January 1 to March 16, 2024. The total number of cases for the same time period in 2023 was only 26, making this year’s tally to date more than 20 times from that of last year.
USA: Measles [Update]
3 April 2024
In a follow-up on the
Measles outbreak in Chicago,
USA, the Chicago Department of Public Health reports 41 measles cases through March 28, which include 13 cases reported just this week so far.
USA: Avian Influenza
3 April 2024
Federal and state health officials of
USA today reported that a person connected to a dairy farm in Texas has tested positive for
H5N1 avian flu, the first known case linked to sick dairy cows and the nation's second since the virus began circulating in wild bird and poultry in 2022.
USA: Tuberculosis
3 April 2024
The number of
Tuberculosis cases in the
United States climbed in 2023, the third straight year of increases, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.