Current Travel Health News

In Australia, the number of Cairns residents struck down by Dengue Fever has skyrocketed. As of 12 December 2008, there were 30 cases of the disease, after 2 confirmed cases at Manoora and Portsmith.

In Indonesia, the cases of Dengue fever in the Tanjung Pinang City, Kepulauan Riau Province, have become an outbreak because during November 2008, as many as 67 cases including 5 deaths have been recorded.

In Mexico, so far this year, a total of 629 people infected by the virus were reported. They are distributed in 32 municipalities. The municipalities most affected are Zapopan, Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, and Tlaquepaque.

In Viet Nam, Ho Chi Minh City has so far this year recorded nearly 14 000 cases of Dengue fever (a 35% year-on-year increase).

(Source: ProMED-mail 15 December 2008)

Cambodia has announced a new confirmed human case H5N1 Avian Influenza infection, bringing the total number of cases to 8 including 7 deaths. The new case is a 19-year-old male from Kandal Province. The patient is currently hospitalized. Contacts of the case are being identified and provided with prophylaxis.

(Source: World Health Organization 12 December 2008)

In Indonesia, the Ministry of Health announced two new human cases of H5N1 Avian Influenza infection. The first was a 9-year-old girl from Riau Province. She had exposure to dead poultry on 2 November and developed symptoms on 7 November, and recovered on 27 November. The second case was a 2-year-old girl from East Jakarta. She developed symptoms on 18 November and died on 29 November. Initial investigations into the source of her infection suggested exposure at a live bird market. Of the 139 cases confirmed to date in Indonesia, 113 were fatal.

(Source: World Health Organization 9 December 2008)

Health authorities in Western Australia have issued a warning about an outbreak of Rabies in Bali. The Indonesian government has confirmed the presence of the disease in the Kuta area, and local media are reporting that several Balinese people showing rabies symptoms died after bitten by dogs. Two dogs have been confirmed as having the disease.

(Source: ProMED-mail 11 December 2008)

In Malaysia, a suspected outbreak of Chikungunya Fever affecting about 100 people was reported in Kedah State.

(Source: ProMED-mail 14 December 2008)

The lack of clean drinking water and proper hygiene fueled the spread of Cholera in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Cholera outbreak began in the Bouenza Region in February 2008. By the end of November 2008, 127 cases and 3 deaths had been registered.

The Cholera outbreak in Guinea-Bissau began in May 2008. The number of cases has risen to 14 201 including 224 deaths.

The number of Cholera cases has risen to 664 in Limpopo, South Africa. The death toll remained at 8. The outbreak began on 15 Nov 2008 after Zimbabweans affected by the disease in their country crossed the border to seek treatment from the South African province.

In Malawi, 36 cases of Cholera were reported in Lilongwe, out of which 4 people have lost their lives.

A Cholera epidemic with 16 141 suspected cases in Zimbabwe has killed 775 people. Approximately half of cases have been recorded in Budiriro, a heavily populated suburb on the western outskirts of the capital, Harare.

(Source: ProMED-mail 12 and 15 December 2008)

In Brazil, dead howler monkeys were found Yellow Fever virus positive in the northwestern part of Rio Grande do Sul State. This was the second recent report of Yellow Fever among howler monkeys in the region. The first one was in early October this year.

(Source: ProMED-mail 10 December 2008)