Current Travel Health News

In Indonesia, the Ministry of Health announced 2 new human cases of H5N1 Avian Influenza infection. The first case was a 29-year-old female from Tangerang City, Banten Province who developed symptoms on 22 January and died on 2 February. The second case was a 38-year-old female from Jakarta Province who developed symptoms on 24 January and is currently in hospital. Investigations into the source of 2 cases are ongoing. Of the 126 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 103 died of the disease.

(Source: World Health Organization 5 February 2008)

In the Philippines, 6 640 cases of Dengue Fever were reported in Central Visayas last year. It represented a 2-fold increase as compared with 2006. Cebu Province was seriously hit by the disease.

(Source: ProMED-mail 6 February 2008)

The Ministry of Health of Singapore has reported a new case of Chikungunya Fever, bringing the number of the disease in this country to 13. The victim was a woman living in the Little India area. She had no recent travel history.

(Source: The Central News Agency 6 February 2008)

In Bangladesh, Avian Influenza has spread to 4 more districts and 2 cities, namely, Gopalganj in the southwest, Sylhet in the northeast, Mymensingh in the north. Bagerhat in the south, Chittagong and the capital Dhaka, which affected the poultry or bird. So far, poultry outbreaks were found in more than half of the 64 districts in the country.

(Source: ProMED-mail 5 and 6 February 2008)

In Pakistan, 2 outbreaks of Avian Influenza were reported in poultry farms of Karachi ‘s outskirts. In addition, 5 000 chickens died of Avian Influenza were reported in a village in Punjab.

(Source: ProMED-mail 6 February 2008)

In Paraguay, about 150 suspected cases of Dengue Fever were reported so far this year. Most of the cases were reported from the departments of Alto Parana and Central.

In Peru, 254 cases of Dengue Fever were reported in the second week of January. Most of the cases were reported from Loreto and Ucayali.

(Source: ProMED-mail 6 February 2008)

As of 1 February, the Ministry of Health of Brazil reported 48 cases of Yellow Fever including 13 deaths. Twenty three of them were reported from Goias, Distrito Federal and Mato Grosso do Sol States An emergency vaccination campaign will be carried out in the most affected states in early February.

(Source: World Health Organization 7 February 2008)

The Health Authority of Paraguay confirmed a death due to Yellow Fever on 5 February 2008. The case was a 24-year-old man who lived in a rural area near San Estanislao in the forested San Pedro Department, 200km north of Asuncion. The last case of Yellow Fever in the country was more than 30 years ago.

(Source: ProMED-mail 5 February 2008)

In Fiji's Northern Division, 3 cases of Typhoid Fever from Nailou village, Tunuloa district, Cakaudrove province has been hospitalized. One of them died of the disease.

(Source: ProMED-mail 5 February 2008)

In New Caledonia, 15 cases of Dengue Fever were reported in the capital Noumea and its immediate suburbs in January.

(Source: ProMED-mail 6 February 2008)

In Turkey, an outbreak of Avian Influenza was reported in Samsun Province. 37 birds were culled

(Source: ProMED-mail 6 February 2008)

In Somalia, an outbreak of Cholera which killed at least 8 children was reported in Middle Shabelle.

In Nigeria, an outbreak of Cholera was reported in Delta State.

In Zambia, 6 suspected cases of Cholera were reported in Copperbelt Province.

In Democratic Republic of the Congo, an outbreak of Cholera affecting nearly 3 000 people, including at least 76 deaths, was reported in Katanga. Lubumbashi and Likasi were seriously hit by the disease.

In Rift Valley Province of Kenya, an outbreak of Cholera affecting 70 people including at least one death was reported in Narok.

In Tanzania, an outbreak of Cholera affecting 54 people was reported in Arusha.

In Angola, an outbreak of Cholera affecting 7 people was reported in Kwanza Sul Province.

(Source: ProMED-mail 6 February 2008)

On 30 January 2008, rebels began their approach to the capital city of Chad, N’Djamena. There has been active fighting between rebel forces and Chadian military forces in and around the capital. On February 2 2008, the US Department of State ordered the departure of all family members of American employees and non-emergency American employees at the U.S. Embassy in N’Djamena and recommended American citizens to defer all travel to Chad.

(Source: US Department of State 5 February 2008)

The US Department of State continues to warn American citizens of the dangers of travel to Colombia where the potential for violence by terrorists and other criminal elements exists in all parts of the country.

(Source: US Department of State 5 February 2008)

In Ukraine, dead chicken found in a private yard in Kirovskoe village, Chernmorskoe region of Crimea were tested positive for Avian Influenza on 6 February 2008.

(Source: ProMED-mail 9 February 2008)