Current Travel Health News

In Goa, India, there was a sudden rise of malaria cases this year with a total of 1 145 cases recorded in the first 9 months this year as compared to 935 cases in the whole year last year.

An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease was reported at Heilbronn, Germany. As of 12 October, 4 people were affected. Investigation was carried out by the local health authority to identify the source of outbreak.

In Chile, there was a recent increase in cases of meningococcal meningitis. Between January and October 2012, 83 cases of meningococcal meningitis with 17 deaths had been confirmed. Most of the cases were detected in the Metropolitan Region, which includes Santiago, and the region of Valparaiso. Most of the cases from the Metropolitan Region were caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W135.

As of 13 December 2012, a total of 18 confirmed cases and 191 probable cases of dengue fever had been reported in Madeira, Portugal.

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.

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.

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