Current Travel Health News

The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has notified WHO of a new case of human infection with Avian Influenza (H5N1) virus. The case was a 17 year-old male from Nusa Tenggara Barat Province. He had onset of symptoms on 28 February and died on 9 March. Investigation indicated that there were sudden poultry die-offs in his neighbourhood.

To date, of the 188 cases reported in Indonesia, 156 have been fatal.

(Source: World Health Organization 26 March 2012)

There was a large outbreak of human cases of Leishmaniasis in Madrid, Spain. The number of human cases increased from 15 in 2009 to 118 in 2011 and had reached 228 at the end of February this year.

(Source: Promed Mail 28 March 2012)

There had been 15 people detected with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax Malaria in Banke district, Nepal. Local health authorities had been on high alert, with the disease likely to rise with the onset of the monsoon.

(Source: Promed Mail 29 March 2012)

From 1 January to 11 March 2012, outbreaks of Meningococcal Meningitis had been reported in 15 districts in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana in Africa. A total of 6 685 suspected meningitis cases including 639 deaths had been reported. Travelers are reminded of the importance of keeping their Meningococcal Vaccination status up to date and to follow WHO travel advice.

(Source: World Health Organization 23 March 2012)

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)

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 website.