Travel Health Service Year 2024

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 wer e 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

Netherlands: Measles

10 March 2025

In 2025, 63 patients with measles have been reported to various Municipal Health Services regions in the Netherlands. The cases are mainly people who contracted measles abroad and their (usually unvaccinated) contacts.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 10 March 2025)

Paraguay: Dengue Fever [Update]

10 March 2025

The epidemiological situation of dengue in Paraguay is showing a progressive increase, with an average of about 1,000 notifications per week.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 10 March 2025)

Brazil: Yellow Fever [Update]

10 March 2025

Breves, on Marajó Island has so far recorded five confirmed deaths from yellow fever. 37 cases of yellow fever had been reported, of which 15 were confirmed, seven are still under investigation, nine were ruled out and six remain as suspects.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 10 March 2025)

Sweden: Mpox [Update]

10 March 2025

Since December 30, 2024, public health officials in Sweden reported 30 Mpox cases in the country, with the vast majority reported in Stockholm (27) through February 20.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 9 March 2025)

Philippines: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

10 March 2025

The Philippines Department of Health reported recently on an increase in hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) cases during the first eight weeks of the year. According to official data, 7,598 cases of HFMD from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22 were reported, a 185 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024 (2665).

(Source: Outbreak News Today 9 March 2025)

Iraq: Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever [Update]

10 March 2025

In southern Iraq, the Dhi Qar Governorate announced recently that it recorded the first case of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever of the year.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 9 March 2025)

Argentina: Measles [Update]

10 March 2025

In a follow-up in the measles outbreak in the City of Buenos Aires and now also the province of Buenos Aires, to date, six cases of measles have been confirmed in the City of Buenos Aires and two cases in Florencio Varela, Province of Buenos Aires.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 8 March 2025)

USA: Measles [Update]

10 March 2025

The Texas Department of State Health Services is reporting an outbreak of measles in the South Plains region of Texas. At this time, 198 cases have been identified since late January. Twenty-three of the patients have been hospitalized. The New Mexico Department of Health confirms that the measles outbreak in Lea County has resulted in one death and a total of 30 cases since Feb. 9. A measles case was reported in Miami-Dade County on Tuesday, making it the first case for Florida in 2025. Seattle & King County and Montgomery County both reported a confirmed measles case in an infant recently.

Nationally in 2025, some 250 measles cases have been reported to date from 12 jurisdictions in the first two months.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 8 March 2025)

Philippines: Dengue Fever [Update]

10 March 2025

Iloilo has recorded a 77 percent surge in dengue cases this year compared to the same period last year. From January 1 to March 1, 2025, the province logged 803 cases with six deaths, an increase from 454 cases with two fatalities during the same period last year.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 8 March 2025)

USA: Hantavirus [Update]

10 March 2025

New Mexico state health officials reported today a confirmed Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome case in a 65-year-old woman from Santa Fe County.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 8 March 2025)

Philippines: Dengue Fever [Update]

10 March 2025

In a follow-up on the dengue fever outbreak in Quezon City, Philippines, the city’s Epidemiology & Surveillance Division now reports 3,234 cases, a 298-percent increase in the total number of dengue cases, from 857 in the same period last year.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 7 March 2025)

Pakistan, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Djibouti: Poliomyelitis [Update]

10 March 2025

Five countries reported polio cases this week, including Pakistan, which reported three cases of wild poliovirus type (WPV1). The cases bring the country's total WPV1 cases in 2025 to six.

The other polio cases reported this week involved circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). Among the affected countries is Nigeria, which reported 7 cVDPV2 cases (4 from 2024 and 3 from 2025) in Kano, Borno, and Jigawa provinces, bringing its 2024 total to 98 cases and its 2025 total to 3 cases. Chad reported 4 cVDPV2 cases, bringing its total number for 2024 to 37 cases and for 2025 to 2. Cameroon reported a cVDPV2 case in December, bringing its total for 2024 to 3 cases. Djibouti reported its first cVDPV2 case of 2025 after confirming none in 2024.

(Source: CIDRAP 8 March 2025)

Japan: Norovirus Infection

10 March 2025

Twenty-three people who had fallen ill were confirmed to have suffered food poisoning. They had a food history of kaiseki or catered boxed meals at Japanese eatery Kiichi in Osaka, where five of the seven employees tested positive for the Norovirus.

(Source: The Mainichi 4 March 2025)

United Kingdom: Norovirus Infection

10 March 2025

According to the National Norovirus Report of UK Health Security Agency, the total number of norovirus laboratory reports during weeks 6 and 7 of 2025 was more than double the 5-season average for the same 2-week period.

(Source: UK Health Security Agency 6 March 2025)

USA: Chickenpox

6 March 2025

Health officials at Penn State University have confirmed three cases of Chickenpox on the University Park campus.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 6 March 2025)

Reunion: Chikungunya Fever [Update]

6 March 2025

Health officials on the island of La Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, reports the Chikungunya epidemic is rapidly increasing in the territory. During the week of February 17 to 23, 2025, Reunion Island recorded 1,300 new cases of chikungunya, an increase of more than 60% compared to the previous week.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 6 March 2025)

Morocco: Measles [Update]

6 March 2025

In a follow-up on the Measles epidemic in Morocco, health authorities are reporting 20,086 total measles cases, including 3,391 confirmed and 37 deaths since the beginning of the year.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 5 March 2025)

Tonga: Dengue Fever [Update]

6 March 2025

Health officials in the Pacific Island of Tonga reported their largest one day increase in Dengue fever cases Tuesday as 30 additional new cases were added to the outbreak, bringing the total to 129 as of Tuesday.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 5 March 2025)

USA: Measles [Update]

6 March 2025

Texas state health officials reported 13 additional Measles cases in the South Plains region of the state since our last report, bring the outbreak total to 159 since late January.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 5 March 2025)

Vietnam: Measles and Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease [Update]

6 March 2025

According to the Hanoi CDC, from the beginning of 2025 to now, Hanoi has recorded 625 Measles cases in 30/30 districts, towns, and cities, with no deaths, an increase compared to the same period in 2024.

Last week, Hanoi recorded 35 cases of Hand, foot and mouth disease, patients were recorded in 16 districts, towns and cities

(Source: Outbreak News Today 4 March 2025)

Austria: Legionnaires’ disease

6 March 2025

Since the beginning of 2025, 41 people in Vorarlberg have contracted Legionella. Since the end of last week, eight new cases have been added. 37 of these cases occurred in the Lower Rhine Valley - Bregenz region and surrounding areas.

(Source: Outbreak News Today 3 March 2025)

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Unknown Disease [Update]

6 March 2025

An ongoing investigation into an unexplained illness cluster in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Equateur province suggests chemical poisoning or rapid-onset bacterial meningitis might be causing the sudden onset of deaths in a village, especially in young men.

(Source: CIDRAP 5 March 2025)