Current Travel Health News

Dengue fever is an endemic disease in most Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Travellers visiting these places are advised to protect themselves against mosquitoes all year round.

The recent dengue fever activity in Asia has been more severe. Various popular tourist attractions among Hong Kong people including Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia, observed recent persistent increase in the number of dengue fever cases. Other neighbouring Asian countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Pakistan and India, also recorded rising dengue fever activities.

Outbreaks of dengue fever were observed in Guangdong province in China, Brazil, Costa Rica, Columbia, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic in the recent year.. It was expected that dengue fever activities will continue to rise in coming months in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Travellers planning to travel in these areas should take precautions against the disease.

Cumulative reported number of dengue cases since 01/01/2013 *

	Cumulative reported no. of cases since 01/01/2013	Source of information and date of report
Australia	1,762	World Health Organization,15 January 2014
Brazil	1,451,432	World Health Organization, 7 January 2014
Cambodia	16,722	World Health Organization, 15 January 2014
China   Guangdong province	2,900	Department of Health of Guangdong Province, 15 January 2014
India	70, 767	Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, India, 28 December 2013
Lao PDR	44,171	World Health Organization, 15 January 2014
Malaysia	43,346	World Health Organization, 15 January 2014
Mexico	230,642	World Health Organization, 7 January 2014
New Caledonia	10,551	World Health Organization, 15 January 2014
Philippines	166,107	World Health Organization, 15 January 2014
Sri Lanka	31,861	Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, 17 January 2014
Taiwan	872	CDC, ROC (Taiwan), 20 January 2014
Vietnam	60,588	World Health Organization, 15 January 2014

Cumulative reported number of dengue cases since 01/01/2014 *

	Cumulative reported no. of cases since 01/01/2014	Source of information and date of report
Singapore	1,217	Singapore National Environment Agency, 17 January 2014
Thailand	56	Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, 11 January 2014

Remark:
* Dengue reporting systems vary by country.

Travellers should stay vigilant against dengue fever and adopt the following personal preventive measures against mosquito bite:

*	Always wear long-sleeved clothing and trousers;
*	Stay in air-conditioned residence or places with mosquito screens;
*	If mosquito screen or air-conditioning is absent, aerosol insecticide and bed nets are advised;
*	Use insect repellents containing DEET on exposed skin and clothing;
*	Use insect repellents containing DEET apart from applying sunscreen while staying in beaches;
*	Carry a portable bed nets and apply permethrin on it as well as to clothes if travelling to rural areas where dengue fever is prevalent.

Travellers returning from areas where dengue fever is prevalent should seek medical advice as soon as possible if they feel unwell and provide travel details to their doctors.

Outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N8 Avian Influenza were reported in duck farms in in North Jeolla Province of South Korea.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (January 18) received notification of eight additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) respectively in Guangzhou (two cases) and Shenzhen (one case) from the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province and in Zhejiang (three cases) and Fujian (two cases) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The two cases in Guangzhou involve a 5-year-old girl and an 83-year-old woman, and the case in Shenzhen involves a 62-year-old man. They are all currently hospitalised for treatment.
The three cases in Zhejiang involve a 35-year-old man, a 72-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man. They are still hospitalised for treatment. The two cases in Fujian are a 38-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man, both of whom are all currently hospitalised for treatment.

 As of 9pm today, a total of 195 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed in the Mainland, including Zhejiang (71 cases), Shanghai (38 cases), Jiangsu (30 cases), Guangdong (23 cases), Fujian (11 cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases), Hebei (one case) and Guizhou (one case, imported from Zhejiang).

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) received notification today (January 17) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of four additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) in Shanghai (one case) and Zhejiang (three cases). The patient of Shanghai is a 54-year-old man. He is currently under treatment in a local hospital. In Zhejiang, three cases involve three men aged 54, 62 and 66. They are still hospitalised for treatment.

 As of 9pm today, a total of 187 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed in the Mainland, including Zhejiang (68 cases), Shanghai (38 cases), Jiangsu (30 cases), Guangdong (20 cases), Fujian (nine cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases), Hebei (one case) and Guizhou (one case, imported from Zhejiang).

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) received notification of seven additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) respectively in Guangzhou (one case) and Foshan (one case) from the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province and in Fujian (two cases), Guizhou (one case) and Zhejiang (two cases) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission. In Guangzhou, the patient is a 59-year-old man who is still hospitalised in a local hospital. The case in Foshan involves a 76-year-old woman who is in critical condition and under treatment in a local hospital. The first case in Fujian involves a 30-year-old man who lives in Quanzhou. He is currently under treatment in a local hospital and his condition is critical. The second case involves a 60-year-old man with poultry contact history who lives in Quanzhou. He is currently under treatment in a local hospital and his condition is serious. The patient of Guizhou is a 38-year-old man. He became ill when he was working in Zhejiang. He was admitted to a hospital in Guizhou on January 8 and died the next day. In Zhejiang, the first case involves a 20-year-old woman who lives in Hangzhou. She is currently under treatment in a local hospital and her condition is critical. The other case involves a 58-year-old man who is under treatment in a hospital in Taizhou. He is currently in critical condition. A total of 183 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed in the Mainland, including Zhejiang (65 cases), Shanghai (37 cases), Jiangsu (30 cases), Guangdong (20 cases), Fujian (nine cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases), Hebei (one case) and Guizhou (one case, imported from Zhejiang).

480 Dengue cases were reported in the week ending 11 January 2014 in Singapore, an increase of 43 cases from the previous week. There has been an increase in the number of cases over the past 3 weeks.

 The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) received notification of four additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) respectively in Foshan (one case) and Shenzhen (one case) from the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province and in Zhejiang (one case) and Shanghai (one case) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

To date, a total of 176 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed in the Mainland, including Zhejiang (63 cases), Shanghai (37 cases), Jiangsu (30 cases), Guangdong (18 cases), Fujian (seven cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases) and Hebei (one case).

In Brazil, there were 689 notifications of suspected cases of measles, of which 138 were officially confirmed including the death of a 7 month old baby in 2013, compared to only one confirmed case in 2012.

An outbreak of H5N1 Avian Influenza was reported in Hubei, China. Of 50 000 susceptible birds, 3 200 were found dead and the remaining birds were destroyed.

 The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) received notification today (January 14) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of three additional human cases of avian influenza A (H7N9) in Fujian (one case) and Zhejiang (two cases).

As of 9pm today, a total of 172 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed in the Mainland, including Zhejiang (62 cases), Shanghai (36 cases), Jiangsu (30 cases), Guangdong (16 cases), Fujian (seven cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases) and Hebei (one case)..

There is an outbreak of Lassa fever in Lafia, Nigeria. So far, one person died from it.

The number of cholera cases in Kunene Region in north western Namibia has risen to 107 while the number of fatalities remained at 7.

According to the health official in Nigeria, 2165 people were infected with cholera and 71 fatal cases have been reported since November 2013 in northern Kano state.

A total of 80 cases of cholera including 2 deaths have been recorded last 8 days in the city of Sange, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Seven confirmed cases of E. Coli infection were reported in Windham County of Connecticut, USA. The local health authority was investigating the source of infection.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) received notification of seven additional human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) respectively in Guangzhou (one case) and Shenzhen (one case) from the Health and Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province, and in Shanghai (two cases) and Zhejiang (three cases) from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

To date, a total of 165 human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) have been confirmed on the Mainland. They are in Zhejiang (58 cases), Shanghai (36 cases), Jiangsu (30 cases), Guangdong (14 cases), Jiangxi (six cases), Fujian (six cases), Anhui (four cases), Henan (four cases), Beijing (two cases), Hunan (two cases), Shandong (two cases) and Hebei (one case).

Four outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza were reported in Vietnam. A total of 3895 birds were affected and 2600 were found dead.