PDF file - Department of Health and Ageing

Overseas briefs
ProMED-mail
This material has been summarised from information
provided by ProMED-mail (http://www.
promedmail.org).
Chikungunya – Mauritius and Reunion
Island
Source: Liberation, 30 December 2005 [translated
and edited]
On this island of 760,000 inhabitants in the Indian
Ocean, 6,200 people have been infected by the
Chikungunya virus, and the number increases by
250 new cases per week.
Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease;
Aedes mosquitoes such as Ae. aegypti and Ae.
africanus are pertinent to the African context.
Chikungunya virus is a member of the family
Togaviridae. Many outbreaks of Chikungunya since
the beginning of 2005 have been noted mainly in
the west rim (the offshore islands of East Africa
and Kenya), the north rim (Sri Lanka) as well as
the east rim (Indonesia) of the Indian Ocean Basin.
‘Chikungunya’ is a Swahili word which means ‘curved
up’: a rather poetic description for this disease which
is not lethal, but causes acute articular pain and can
lead to serious neurological complications.
The Department of Epidemiology of Reunion and
the Regional Department of Health and Social
Affairs fear the epidemic will spread during the next
summer rainy season in the southern region.
West Nile virus update 2005 – Western
Hemisphere
Source: USA Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention, Division of Vectorborne Infectious
Diseases, West Nile virus, 20 December 2005
[edited]
As of 20 December 2005, avian, animal or mosquito
West Nile virus infections have been reported
to CDC from a total of 48 states and one district.
Human cases have been reported in a total of 42
states.
Human cases reported to CDC refl ect both mild and
severe human disease cases occurring between
1 January 2005 and 20 December 2005 that have
been reported to ArboNet by state and local health
departments.
Of the 2,799 cases, 1,168 (42%) were reported as
West Nile meningitis or encephalitis (neuro-invasive
disease), 1,472 (53%) were reported as West Nile
fever (milder disease), and 159 (6%) were clinically
unspecifi ed at this time.
The high proportion of neuro-invasive disease cases
among reported cases of West Nile virus disease
refl ects surveillance reporting bias. Serious cases
are more likely to be reported than mild cases. Also,
the surveillance system is not designed to detect
asymptomatic infections. Data from populationbased
surveys indicate that, among all people who
become infected with West Nile virus (including people
with asymptomatic infections), less than one per
cent will develop severe neuro-invasive disease.
Avian infl uenza – Eurasia – FAO,
update
Source: FAO-AIDE News, issue No 37,
23 December 2005 [edited].
Latest information on avian influenza
The fi rst case of highly pathogenic avian infl uenza
(HPAI) H5N1 was reported from the Republic of
Korea on 12 December 2003. The disease has
spread from South East Asia to the north-west
involving Quinghai Lake, Xinjang Province in China,
Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Turkey,
Croatia, and now has also been confi rmed in the
Ukraine.
Country situation
Europe
Ukraine
22 December 2005
Massive deaths of poultry started on 25 November
2005 on the Crimean Peninsula, and preliminary
testing confi rmed the presence of avian infl uenza
virus of sub-type H5 on 8 December 2005. It was
later confi rmed as HPAI H5N1. The disease has so
far spread to at least 27 villages on the Crimean
Peninsula.
Control measures imposed include quarantine of
infected properties, the creation of sanitary cordons
of approximately 3 km radius and prohibition of the
sale of backyard poultry and poultry products in
the Crimea. Veterinarians and soldiers have culled
more than 67,000 domestic fowl, including chicken,
geese, ducks and turkeys in affected villages.
186 CDI Vol 30 No 1 2006