Current Travel Health News
Current Travel Health News
Take precautions against dengue fever when travelling abroad
Dengue fever is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. This includes various popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong people including the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Detailed information on the latest Dengue fever situation in Hong Kong, as well as neighbouring and overseas countries and areas, can be found at the Centre for Health Protection’s website: https://www.chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/df_imported_cases_and_overseas_figures_eng.pdf
Travellers planning to travel in these areas should take precautions against the disease. 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.
For more information on dengue fever, including the latest situation in neighbouring and overseas countries and areas, please visit the Centre for Health Protection’s thematic webpage at https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/38847.html
Take precautions against Mpox (also known as monkeypox) when travelling abroad
Mpox (also known as monkeypox) is a zoonotic disease caused by Mpox virus. Often found in tropical forest regions of Central and West Africa.
It is mainly transmitted by contact with infected animals, human-to-human transmission is limited. Incubation period is mainly from 6 to 13 days, symptoms are similar with Smallpox infection, but less severe.
Since 6 May 2022, multiple outbreaks were reported in Europe and North America countries, and many patient are self-identified as bisexual or men who have sex with men. Travellers planning to travel in these areas should avoid contact
with infected person. Travellers returning from these areas shall notify the doctor to seek medical treatment and inform the travel situation if feeling unwell.
For more information on Mpox, including the latest situation in overseas countries or places, please visit the World Health Organization and Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection’s thematic webpages at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/monkeypox#tab=tab_1
https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/105683.html
Japan: Measles
14 March 2024
During the period from the 1st to the 52nd epidemiological week of 2023, a total of 28
measles cases were reported in
Japan, which increased substantially compared to the past 3 years, during which 10 or fewer cases were reported annually from 2020 to 2022. These cases are believed to have been triggered by imported cases from overseas.
Finland: Hepatitis E
13 March 2024
The
Finland Institute of Health and Welfare is reporting a dramatic increase in
Hepatitis E cases in 2024 to date. In the first two months of the year, officials report 92 hepatitis E cases have been reported. To put this in perspective, 33 cases were reported in all of 2023.
USA: Pertussis [Update]
13 March 2024
Officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare,
USA are reporting a spike in
Pertussis cases in the first two months of 2024.
Peru: Dengue Fever [Update]
13 March 2024
In
Peru, the National Center for Epidemiology, Disease Prevention and Control, from the Ministry of Health has reported 46,522 total
Dengue cases (27,637 confirmed and another 18,885 probable) in the first nine weeks of 2024. The number of cases to date registered is an increase of 174.3% compared to the figure reached in the same period of 2023 (16,962)—nearly triple the cases.
Czech Republic: Diphtheria and Pertussis
13 March 2024
The National Institute of Public Health has reported a death due to Diphtheria in an 82-year-old man from Prague. This is the first death due the disease reported in the Czech Republic since 1969.
The Czech Republic is also battling another vaccine-preventable disease—Pertussis. From January 1 to March 3, 2024, 1,666 cases of pertussis were reported to health officials.
USA: Plague [Update]
13 March 2024
A month after Oregon officials reported the first human
Plague case since 2015, New Mexico health officials report a human plague case and death in a Lincoln County man in
USA.
Laos: Anthrax
13 March 2024
Officials in Champasak province in southwestern
Laos report three human
Anthrax cases in people who contracted the dangerous bacteria after consuming meat of livestock that had died suddenly.
USA: Mumps
13 March 2024
USA New Jersey health officials report investigating, along with local officials, eight suspected cases of
Mumps in one family cluster in Hunterdon County related to international travel.
Uruguay: Dengue Fever
13 March 2024
On March 1, the
Uruguay Ministry of Public Health has reported the first locally acquired
Dengue Fever case of the year in a resident in the department of Montevideo.
Nigeria: Meningitis
13 March 2024
The
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reports since the beginning of the year through February 28, 628 (59 confirmed, 569 suspected) cases of
bacterial meningitis.
Argentina: Dengue Fever [Update]
13 March 2024
According to the Department of Epidemiology, Ministry of Health of
Argentina, from the beginning of the year through February 17, 40,137 cases of
Dengue were reported. This number of cases is 2,546% higher than that reported for the same period in 2023, when 1,517 were registered.
Greece: Syphilis
13 March 2024
The Hellenic National Public Health Organization in
Greece reports an increase in
Syphilis cases for the period of 2020-2022. There was an increase of 113.36% has been recorded for cases of early syphilis.
USA: Measles [Update]
13 March 2024
Two more
Measles cases are confirmed in an outbreak at a Chicago migrant shelter in
USA, and health officials in Arizona's Coconino County reported two new cases, one confirmed and one probable.
(Source: CIDRAP 12 March 2024)