Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (26 September 2011)
As of 17 September, the Ministry of Health of Singapore has reported 4 220 cases of Dengue Fever and 16 cases of Haemorrhagic Dengue Fever this year.
As of 18 June 2011, there have been 1 681 confirmed cases of Cholera and 56 deaths in the Dominican Republic.
(Source: ProMED-mail 21 September 2011)
As of 18 September 2011, out of the 283 suspected Cholera cases in Sindh of Pakistan, 24 cases were confirmed positive and 3 people died due to the disease.
(Source: ProMED-mail 22 September 2011)
As of 13 September 2011, Pakistan has reported 84 cases of Poliomyelitis, compared to 48 cases for the same period in 2010.
(Source: World Health Organization 20 September 2011)
Rabies continues to be a risk in the resort island's capital, Denpasar, and its neighboring regency Gianyar, underlining the persistence of the deadly epidemic that has haunted Bali of Indonesia since 2008. There were 18 officially recognized rabies deaths thus far in 2011, and the 86 in 2010, 29 in 2008-2009, and there are several dozen suspected cases.
(Source: ProMED-mail 23 September 2011)
About 31 people have died of Rabies so far this year in Sri Lanka, as opposed to 59 deaths last year. Rabies control programmes were carried out and about 460 144 stray and domesticated dogs had been vaccinated for rabies.
In Oregon, USA, a health official reported that a local man was hospitalized with septicemic Plague. The man was believed to have been infected while hunting in Lake County.
(Source: ProMED-mail 21 September 2011)
As widespread violent clashes occurred in many cities across Syria, including Daraa, Latakia, Damascus, Baniyas, Aleppo, Homs and Hama, resulting in serious casualties, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for Syria to Black. 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 26 April 2011)
Philippines: Black Travel Alert
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)
For more information, please visit the World Health Organization webpage.