Current Travel Health News

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization webpage.

Following an incident occurred at a nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on 12 March 2011, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for Fukushima Prefecture and 3 more prefectures (Miyagi Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture) to Black on 12 March and 15 March respectively. Residents in Hong Kong or Japan are urged to avoid all travel to Fukushima Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture. Those already in Japan should pay attention to the announcement of local government and take practicable measures to attend to their personal safety.

For more information, please visit the OTA webpage.

(Source: Security Bureau, Government of Hong Kong SAR 12 and 15 March 2011)

The Ministry of Health of Egypt announced three new human cases of H5N1 Avian Influenza infection. The cases were a 32-year-old male from Suez Governorate, a 28-year-old female from Giza Governorate and a 4-year-old boy from Behira Governorate respectively. Of the 133 cases confirmed to date in Egypt, 45 had been fatal.

(Source: World Health Organization 29 March 2011)

Indonesia announced one new human case of H5N1 Avian Influenza infection. The victim was a 28-year-old female from Yogyakarta Province who developed symptoms on 1 March and was hospitalized on 6 March. She died on 14 March. A total of 176 cases with 145 deaths have been reported in Indonesia so far.

(Source: World Health Organization 1 April 2011)

Paraguay reported so far this year that 18 people have died from Dengue Fever, an historical figure in the country. There were also 2 495 confirmed cases and more than 1 300 hospitalizations in the whole country.

(Source: ProMED-mail 27 March 2011)

In the USA, 4 local cases of Dengue Fever have been reported in Hawaii, the first known local outbreak since 2001. The 4 cases came from the same neighborhood. They involved 3 family members and a neighbor. All 4 became sick at the end of February and had since recovered. About 70 other people that lived around them had been notified and some had taken blood tests to see if they too had the disease.

(Source: ProMED-mail 27 March 2011)

In the USA, a total of 11 confirmed cases of Measles have been reported in Minnesota. The outbreak began with an unvaccinated child who had travelled to Kenya. Most of the cases were unvaccinated too. Fear of a link between MMR and autism among the Somali immigrants is thought to account for low vaccination rates.

(Source: ProMED-mail 27 March 2011)

In the United Kingdom, a total of 15 confirmed and 5 suspected cases of Measles have been reported in Leeds. The majority of cases were students. This was the first outbreak in the city since 2009.

(Source: ProMED-mail 27 March 2011)

In Madagascar, the death toll from Plague was rising, 60 people have died of the infectious disease. About 200 people were also infected with the Plague. Almost all regions of the country were affected by the disease.

(Source: ProMED-mail 1 April 2011)

As the situation in Bahrain continues to deteriorate, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for the country to black. Hong Kong residents are urged to avoid all travel to the country. Those already there should attend to their personal safety and avoid protests and large gatherings of people.

For more information, please visit the OTA webpage.

(Source: Security Bureau, Government of Hong Kong SAR 16 March 2011)

Following the hostage taking incident in the Philippines which had caused casualties, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for the Philippines to Black. Hong Kong residents are urged to avoid all travel to the Philippines. Those already there should attend to their personal safety and stay alert.

For more information, please visit the OTA webpage.

(Source: Security Bureau, Government of Hong Kong SAR 20 September 2010)