Current Travel Health News

South Korea confirmed a new outbreak of Avian Influenza at a duck farm in North Jeolla Province. Quarantine workers had started culling 6 500 ducks at the farm, where 6 000 poultry have died since last week, and had destroyed thousands of birds which had already been sent elsewhere.

(Source: ProMED-mail 8 April 2008)

In Vietnam, the outbreak of acute diarrhoeal disease has spread to more provinces in the north. The cities and provinces affected included Hanoi, Ha Tay, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Nam Dinh, Phu Tho, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Ha Nam, Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, Quang Ninh and Thai Nguyen. Up to now, nearly 500 cases of diahorrea were reported. Out of which, over 100 cases were diagnosed as Cholera.

(Source: ProMED-mail 9 April 2008)

Health authority of New Zealand reported that so far at least 23 people have contracted Dengue Fever and reminded the public that there is an ongoing outbreak in Tonga in the nearby South Pacific Ocean.

India has begun culling 20 000 birds in Tripura where 3 000 birds died of Avian Influenza in the past week. People in remote northeastern villages on the border with Bangladesh were checked for fever.

(Source: ProMED-mail 8 April 2008)

In India, an outbreak of Chikungunya Fever was reported in Kerala.

(Source: ProMED-mail 9 April 2008)

In Kenya, an outbreak of Cholera which killed 5 people was reported in Rift Valley Province.

As of 4 April 2008, 945 cases of Cholera including 4 deaths were reported in the Ohangwena Region of Namibia.

In Somalia, an outbreak of Cholera affecting 60 people including at least 12 deaths was reported in a town in Gedo Region.

In Mashonaland Central of Zimbabwe, the outbreak of Cholera which began in February continued to affect the region. Up to now, 221 cases including 20 deaths were reported.

(Source: ProMED-mail 9 April 2008)

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo , at least 17 people were confirmed to have contracted Typhoid Fever in the Bunia District of Orientale Province, of whom 3 died. The outbreak was suspected to be caused by consumption of contaminated water.

(Source: Xinhuanet 13 April 2008)

The Ministry of Health in Egypt announced the 22^nd fatal human case of H5N1 Avian Influenza in this country. The victim was a 30-year-old woman from Cairo. She was admitted on 9 April and died on 11 April. She had history of contact with poultry infected by Avian Influenza.

(Source: Xinhuanet 12 April 2008)

As of 28 March 2008, health authorities of Brazil have reported a national total of 120 570 cases of Dengue Fever including 647 Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever cases and 48 deaths. On 2 April 2008, the State of Rio de Janeiro reported 57 010 cases of Dengue Fever including 67 confirmed deaths and 58 deaths currently under investigation.

(Source: World Health Organization 10 April 2008)

Russia confirmed an outbreak of Avian Influenza in a village in Primorye, where 28 out of 42 poultry in a farm had died. Authorities cordoned off the village, killed all other fowl on the farm and vaccinated birds in the village and nearby areas.

(Source: ProMED-mail 12 April 2008)