Current Travel Health News

Egypt announced 3 new cases of human H5N1 Avian Influenza infection. The first was a 25-year-old woman from Qena Governorate who died on 29 Dec 2010. The second was a 27-year-old man from Ismailia Governorate, who was under treatment at hospital and was in stable condition.  The third case was a 40-year-old man from Dakahlia province. Of the 119 confirmed cases of the disease reported in Egypt, 40 were fatal.

(Source: ProMED-mail 2 & 3 January 2011)

In South Korea, an outbreak of H5N1 Avian Influenza which killed 4 500 ducks was reported in a poultry farm in South Jeolla province. The remaining 10 000 ducks were culled.

(Source: ProMED-mail 8 January 2011)

In the United Kingdom, seasonal Influenza activity might start to peak in England, Wales and Scotland. Influenza A H1N1 (2009) and Influenza B remained the predominant strains circulating although sporadic cases of H3N2 were also seen.  A small proportion of flu cases resulted in severe disease, particularly in people under the age of 65.  In the past week, a further 11 people died with confirmed influenza, bringing the total number since the beginning of influenza season in October 2010 to 50. Forty-five of these people died with the H1N1 (2009) strain and five with Influenza B.

(Source: Health Protection Agency 6 January 2011)

In South Africa, 2 fatal cases of Malaria were reported in Limpopo province and the officials said that there was a slight increase in malaria cases in the province over the past week.

(Source: ProMED-mail 4 January 2011)

In Cote d'Ivoire, an outbreak of Yellow Fever which killed 11 people and affected many others was reported in the country. The affected departments included Seguela, Katiola, Beoumi and Mankono .

(Source: ProMED-mail 5 January 2011)

Uganda put out an alert on Yellow Fever that had hit 10 districts in the region in November 2010. The latest report put the death toll at 49 while 191 were hospitalized. Uganda has had no reported yellow fever cases for some 40 years.

(Source: ProMED-mail 30 December 2010)

Following the hostage taking incident in the Philippines which had caused casualties, the Hong Kong SAR 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)