Current Travel Health Alerts

AUSTRALIA:More measles in Sydney

After surfacing in the south western Sydney (NSW) suburb of Eagle Vale, measles is spreading through the Campbelltown district, with 22 cases now reported. Read more.

Advice to travellers: Measles is highly contagious. Whether at home or travelling overseas, Australians should consider a booster if they haven't had the disease or have not received two documented doses of the live virus vaccine. This is especially important for travellers, who should also update whooping cough, diphtheria, mumps, and polio vaccination, if necessary, before departure.

 

BOLIVIA: Mice plague turns deadly

In Beni Department, a mice plague has led to 13 recent cases and 7 deaths from Bolivian haemorrhagic fever. Five municipalities - Magdalena, Baures, Huacaraje, San Joaquin, and San Ramon - have issued health warnings. Read more (ProMED Alert, July 30 translated)

CAMBODIA: More cases of EV71

Recent new cases of hand, foot and mouth disease caused by the virus, EV-71 have been reported in Battambang, increasing the total to 85 cases – 56 of them fatal. Read more.

Advice to travellers: Parents of young children should be aware of that epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) have been widespread throughout Asia. The virus mainly affects young children and while symptoms generally are mild, EV-71 causes a severe form of the disease. As advised previously, there is no vaccine or preventative medication, but good hand hygiene greatly reduces the risk of infection.

 

CANADA: Whooping cough spreading

Whooping cough is spreading in 4 provinces, infecting as many as 2000 people and killing an infant in Alberta. British Columbia's Fraser Valley, southern Alberta, parts of south-western Ontario, and New Brunswick are dealing with severe outbreaks. Read more.

Advice to travellers: Prior to overseas travel, all travellers are advised to check their immunisation status for whooping cough (pertussis) and other childhood diseases, such as measles, diphtheria, mumps, and polio – as part of their pre-travel preparations.

 

CUBA: Cholera outbreak shrinking

Three fatal cholera infections were among the 137 cases confirmed to date in Granma Province in the country's first outbreak in more than a century. While earlier cases were reported from the cities of Manzanillo, Bayamo, Yara, and Campechuela Niquero, the outbreak is now restricted to Manzanillo. Read more.

 

INDIA: Encephalitis toll grows; Cholera outbreaks; Mumbai's malaria

In eastern Uttar Pradesh, the number of patients hospitalised with encephalitis-related illness has risen from 658 (129 deaths) to 756 (146 deaths) in a fortnight. Read more.

In the city Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), one person died and 15 people were hospitalised with encephalitis on Monday. Another 58 are being treated in various hospitals.

A CHOLERA outbreak that began in north Chennai has now spread to other parts of the city. Some 78 cases have been diagnosed. Read more.

IN ORISSA State, cholera has killed 3 and infected 70 others in Dobhala village (Balikuda Block). Read more.

THERE ARE more cases of P.falciparum malaria in Thane (part of the Mumbai metropolitan region) this year, despite slightly fewer malaria cases overall. Read more.

 

MALAYSIA: Dengue up 13%; Cholera dampens Ramadan

Dengue is up by 13% nationwide on 2011 during the first six months of this year, with deaths increasing from 19 to 25. Read more.

CONTAMINATED water from Kemena River is suspected as the source of widespread outbreaks of cholera and acute diarrhoea that have affected hundreds of people celebrating Ramadan in the Bintulu district. Read more.

Advice to travellers: Because dengue fever is transmitted by urban-breeding mosquitoes that mainly bite during daylight hours, it is a risk for most travellers visiting cities and town in tropical countries. Cover up when mosquitoes are biting, and apply repellent containing an active ingredient, such as DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus when outdoors.

 

NEPAL: JE death in Bhadrapur; Diarrhoea deaths in Doti

Japanese encephalitis has killed a 67-year-old woman in a rice- and tea-producing district bordering India in the south-east. Read more.

AN OUTBREAK of acute diarrhoea has killed at least 8 people and infected more than 400 over 6 weeks in the far western Doti district. Read more.

 

NIGERIA: Floods bring diseases

In flood-affected Jos (Plateau State), cholera, dysentery and diarrhoea are impacting heavily on refugee camps. Read more.

 

PAKISTAN: Cholera in Dasuya; Dengue hits Karachi; Measles epidemic: Soaring hepatitis rates

In Punjab State, at least 117 people are in hospital as an outbreak of cholera and gastro enteritis escalates in Dasuya. Read more.

A FRESH outbreak of dengue has hit Karachi, with 21 patients hospitalised last week bringing the total since January to 126. Read more.

POOR vaccination campaigns, military conflict, migration and malnutrition have contributed to the measles epidemic that has killed 6 children in Ambar (Mohmand Agency, FATA), local experts say. Read more.

PAKISTAN is facing an epidemic of Hepatitis, with a national infection rate of 4.9% for the C strain and 2.4% for Hep B. According to the WHO, 12 million have the disease. Read more.

Advice to travellers: Hepatitis B and C are blood-borne viruses and for travellers unprotected sex, or unsterile equipment used in tattoos and body piercings, or treating injuries all carry the risk of infection. While there is no vaccine for Hepatitis C, there are highly effective vaccines for the B and A strains, which can be given separately or in a 2-in1 vaccine. The main day-to-day risk for travellers lies in Hepatitis A, which is transmitted by faecal-contaminated food and water and is a significant risk in most developing countries. Follow our guidelines for safe food and water.

 

PHILIPPINES: Second case of EV-71 confirmed

THE government has confirmed the second locally-acquired case of enterovirus-71 (EV-71) in a boy from the northern province of Benguet. In comparison with its neighbours, the country has had relatively few recent cases of the milder HFMD, with only 21 confirmed. Read more.

 

SIERRA LEONE: Cholera toll now 9

Cholera has reached Freetown, with 410 cases (9 deaths) in the 2 weeks to July 24. Marbella, a high-density area packed with traders and dwellings, is a hotspot for the disease. Read more.

 

SOMALIA: Cholera victims flee to capital

Hundreds of cholera victims from southern Somalia are crowding hospitals in the capital, Mogadishu. The rainy season in the south areas has helped to spread of the disease. Read more.

 

TAIWAN: JE on the rise; Man 'imports' rabies; Shigellosis ex-Philippines; Dengue in south

Authorities have warned that 20 cases of Japanese encephalitis have now been confirmed since the beginning of summer. Read more.

A 30-YEAR-OLD Taiwanese businessman bitten by his own dog in China last month has tested positive for rabies. Read more.

THREE Taiwanese tourists who travelled to the Philippine resort island of Boracay have been diagnosed with shigellosis, or bacillary dysentery. Contaminated food is the likely source. Read more.

Taiwan's CDC reported 8 recent cases of locally-acquired dengue fever in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung this week.

Advice to travellers: JE is a vaccine-preventable, mosquito-borne disease passed from infected wading birds and pigs to humans by Culex mosquitoes. As advised last week, Taiwan is within the JE belt that extends from the northern tip of Australia throughout Asia. Some 30 000 to 50 000 cases of JE are reported annually, mainly during the May-October peak. Read more on JE.

 

THAILAND: Two EV-71 deaths

A second death this week may be linked to EV-71, a severe form of hand, foot and mouth disease that has killed 54 children in neighbouring Cambodia. About 16 000 Thai children have contracted hand, foot and mouth disease this year. Read more.

 

TRINIDAD/TOBAGO: Dengue tally rising

At least 216 dengue cases have been reported in central Trinidad this year, 75% of them in Chaguanas, although the Cunupia/Enterprise, St Helena, Las Lomas and Lange Park districts have also reported cases. Read more.

 

UGANDA: Ebola kills 14

Ebola virus has killed 14 people – including 9 from one family – and has now infected at least 36 people, the WHO advised today on Twitter. The outbreak has been caused by the 'milder' Ebola Sudan strain, which has a mortality rate of 55%. Read more.

 

UNITED KINGDOM: Legionnaires' in Midlands; Whooping cough, measles, Hep C skyrocketing

AUTHORITIES say a hot tub located in a retail warehouse is almost certainly the source of 18 confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease in Stoke-on-Trent, located in England's West Midlands. Britain's Health Protection Agency says more cases are expected. Read more.

IN England and Wales, this year's 2466 reported whooping cough cases is double 2011's total. Options being considered to curb the epidemic include booster doses for teens and vaccination of pregnant women. Read more.

MEASLES rates are rising in several counties, notably Sussex (304). Read more.

The HPA estimates 216,000 people are chronically infected with hepatitis C in the UK. Hospital admissions for End Stage Liver Disease and liver cancer have risen from 612 in 1998 to 1979 in 2010. Read more.

Advice to travellers: Legionnaires' disease is not contagious and presents a low risk to most travellers. However, both whooping cough and measles are highly contagious and Travelvax Australia recommends travellers consider getting a primary course, or a booster, before travelling overseas.

 

USA: Whooping cough hits 50-year high

Whooping cough (pertussis) cases are at their highest level in 50 years across America. Outbreaks are occurring in North Dakota, New York, Maryland, and Montana. Washington State's tally has now passed 2500 – 13 times higher than last year and 9 times the national average. The CDC is launching an investigation, examining the outbreak's unusual features and the waning protection of the existing vaccine. 

IN TEXAS, rates of mosquito-borne West Nile virus (WNV) are soaring, rising from 3 cases last year to 111 this year – some 61% of them neuro-invasive. There have been 3 deaths. Read more.

Advice to travellers: WNV generally causes only mild flu-like symptoms. However, in a small number of cases – particularly among the elderly – the virus can cause potentially fatal meningitis or encephalitis. Travellers should take all precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

 

ZIMBABWE: Typhoid hits Harare; Cholera outbreaks; H3N2 flu widespread

More than 100 people in Harare and Chitungwiza, a dormitory town 35km southeast of the capital, have contracted typhoid in recent weeks, while cholera has been reported in Chiredzi (Masvingo Province) and Manicaland Province, which borders Mozambique. Read more.

MEANWHILE, Zimbabwe has been hit by an epidemic of the H3N2 flu strain. Despite 140,000 cases, only one death has been reported, according to a media report.

Advice to travellers: Dilapidated water and sanitation systems are behind the regular outbreaks of typhoid and cholera in Zimbabwe. Spread by contaminated food and beverages, typhoid generally presents a low risk for those spending short periods in hotels or resorts in endemic countries. Travellers should follow safe food and water guidelines.