Health Alerts

Nearly 140 suspected cases of dengue fever are being investigated in the town of Doksum in the NE district of Trashiyangtse; one death has been registered to date. The town lies close to the sacred Buddhist site of Gomphu Kora. There are separate reports for smaller outbreaks in Hetauda in south, central Nepal and in Taiwan (first autochthonous case this year in Taoyuan City), as well as the large outbreaks underway in the Philippines (July’s dengue alert now upgraded to national epidemic after more than 660 deaths this year), Sri Lanka (more than 35,000 cases, 47 deaths; high risk districts - Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Galle), Bangladesh (2,000 new cases in one 24-hour period this week taking total of dengue hospitalisations to more than 27,000), Laos (early start to the season this year – now more than 20,000 cases and 48 related deaths) and Malaysia (more than 500 cases daily country-wide; 80,000+ cases, 113 deaths).  Read more...