Current Travel Health News

As of 18 July 2010, worldwide more than 214 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including over 18 366 deaths.
For more information, please visit WHO's website.

(Source: World Health Organization 23 July 2010)

Egypt reported 1 new confirmed human case of H5N1 Avian Influenza. The victim was a 20-year-old female with symptoms of high temperature and breathing difficulties and was hospitalized. She was in a critical condition. Egypt had taken preventive measures to contain the pandemic since its outbreak in 2006, including restraints on mobilizing live birds between provinces, as well as banning the slaughtering of birds outside designated locations.

(Source: Promed-mail 25 July 2010)

In California of USA, 1 496 cases of Pertussis were reported in the first 6 months of this year, a 5-fold increase over the same period last year when 258 cases were reported. Five infants who died from Pertussis this year, were under 3 months old. Unimmunized or incompletely immunized young infants are particularly vulnerable. In addition, approximately 700 possible cases of Pertussis are under investigation.

More than 600 cases of Pertussis have been reported in Michigan so far this year while only 278 cases were reported last year. Furthermore, as of July 2010, 77 and 36 cases of Pertussis have been reported in Idaho and Ohio respectively.

(Source: ProMED-mail 22 & 23 July 2010, and California Department of Public Health, USA 19 July 2010 )

In the Philippines, 546 cases with 6 deaths and 1 052 cases with 9 deaths due to Dengue Fever were reported in Cebu City and Zamboanga City respectively in the first half of this year.

(Source: ProMED-mail 20 July 2010)

Outbreaks of Dengue Fever were reported in Central American and Caribbean countries. The countries with reported outbreaks included Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and Honduras.

(Source: ProMED-mail 20 July 2010)

In Thailand, more than 70 cases of children with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease were reported in Phuket so far this year.

On 25 June 2010, Democratic Republic of the Congo reported a fatal case of suspected Yellow fever in Orientale province (northern part of the country). The case was a 43 year-old male farmer who had onset of symptoms on 15 March and died a few days later. He had no history of yellow fever vaccination. Between March and June, 11 other suspected cases were reported, including two deaths.

(Source: World Health Organization 19 July 2010)

As of 19 July, Angola has reported 15 Poliomyelitis cases caused by wild poliovirus type 1 since the beginning of 2010. All of these cases are have been detected since February in the capital Luanda or in provinces which were previously polio-free (Bie, Bengo, Huambo, Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul).

As there is high risk that it could further spread into neighbouring countries, WHO recommended that travellers to and from Angola should be fully protected by vaccination.

(Source: World Health Organization 19 July 2010)

As of 23 July 2010, 430 confirmed cases of Poliomyelitis with 19 deaths were reported in Tajikistan. Most of the cases were reported from the southwestern part of the country. In Russia, 7 cases of the disease were also reported and investigations were being carried out to determine the source of infection.

(Source: World Health Organization 23 July 2010 and National Travel Health Network and Centre, UK 21 July 2010)

In Israel, an outbreak of Mumps with 3 400 cases has been reported since January 2010, 2 400 of them in the Jerusalem area alone, as compared to 6 to 10 cases during an ordinary year. Some of the cases were related to the Mumps outbreak occurred at religious schools in New York, USA in August 2009.

(Source: ProMED-mail 23 July 2010)