Current Travel Health News

To date, there have been 35 and 1 108 people infected with West Nile Virus in Canada and USA respectively. Twenty-two people died of the disease in USA.

(Source: Pro-MED mail 15 October 2008)

In Germany, birds from a farm and a zoo in Sachsen were tested positive for low pathogenic H5N3 Avian Influenza. All the sick birds were culled.

(Source: World Organisation for Animal Health 17 October 2008)

As of 7 October, 1 341 cases of Poliomyelitis have been reported all over the world this year. The 4 endemic countries (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria) accounted for 1 259 cases and the remaining 82 cases occurred in 10 other countries in Africa and Asia.

(Source: Pro-MED mail 15 October 2008)

More than 50 people with acute diarrhea in Quynh Luu District of Vietnam's central Nghe An Province have recently been hospitalized. Among them, 23 were tested positive for Cholera. The river that runs through the district, is the main cause of the epidemic, as Vibrio cholerae bacteria was discovered in the river. Many of the seafood sourced from the river, including fish and oysters, have been found to be infected with the bacteria.

The recent report of Ministry of Health indicated that 462 confirmed Cholera cases have been registered in Iraq up to 13 Oct 2008. Contaminated water is the most probable source of the outbreak.

(Source: ProMED-mail 14 October 2008)

The Cholera epidemic is still out of control across Guinea-Bissau. The number of cases doubled in the past 3 weeks, bringing the total number of people stricken to 10 476 as of 9 Oct 2008. A total of 181 people died from the disease.

(Source: ProMED-mail 14 October 2008)

An outbreak of Malaria in northern Nigeria's Katsina State has taken 401 lives in the last 4 weeks. A total of 50 311 Malaria cases were recorded in the state of 4.5 million people over the past 4 weeks. The high rainfall recorded in this rainy season had led to more mosquito breed.

(Source: ProMED-mail 19 October 2008)