The Swiss Expert Committee for Travel Medicine (ECTM) - a body of the Swiss Society for Tropical and Travel Medicine (FMH) - has revamped the Safetravel® website and renamed it to HealthyTravel.ch. The website continues to offer basic travel medicine recommendations for laypersons free of charge. Professionals can also subscribe to additional travel medicine information and recommendations such as in-depth country-specific information, vaccination recommendations with expert opinions, detailed maps (including malaria recommendations), fact sheets (including e.g. dosage information for malaria prophylaxis) and other important travel medicine content. These can be used during travel medicine consultation of patients and clients and can be individually compiled for the traveller, printed out or sent electronically.  The recommendations and content on HealthyTravel.ch reflect the recommendations of the Swiss Expert Committee for Travel Medicine. They are developed in cooperation with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). The website is under construction and will be continuously expanded with additional content and updates. Please note that all content available on the website HealthyTravel.ch is protected by copyright and may not be passed on to third parties. Further information can be found in the flyer (LINK). The Swiss Expert Committee for Travel Medicine will be happy to answer any questions at info@healthytravel.ch !

The Philippine Department of Health reports the death of 55 persons from rabies by 25 February 2023.

Between the end of November 2022 and mid-March 2023, a total of 690 measles cases, including one death, were reported from seven districts in western Nepal. Almost half of the cases were from Banke district in Lumbini province, which borders India. The majority of cases involved children under the age of 15.

As of February 2023, over 4.8 million new cases and over 39'000 deaths have been reported worldwide. Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 758 million confirmed cases and over 6.8 million deaths have been reported.According to the latest update from the Chinese CDC, the COVID-19 situation in mainland China has stabilized between 10'000 and 15'000 cases per day, with fluctuations within this range. The downward trend in hospitalizations and deaths continues.

Health authorities in the city of Pergamino, in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, report 19 cases of chikungunya. These are the first locally acquired cases ever reported in this city.

The Municipal Health Secretariat of Caxias do Sul reports a yellow fever case in a howler monkey. This is the first suspected and then confirmed yellow fever case in 2023. The animal was found dead in Parada Cristal, a peri-urban area (transition between rural and urban areas), about 140 km north of Porto Alegre.In South America, deaths in monkeys often precede cases of yellow fever in humans and thus are an indicator of the spread of the virus. In Brazil, the peak season for yellow fever infections is between December and May.

An outbreak of leptospirosis has been reported in East Java: 249 cases have been registered since the beginning of the year, including 9 deaths. The majority of cases occurred in Pacitan. During all of last year (2022), there were 606 cases of leptospirosis in East Java province. Leptospirosis cases have also been recently reported in Central Java, Yogyakarta, and West Java.Leptospirosis spreads more easily during the rainy season. It is transmitted through the urine of rodents (especially rats), e.g., in water residues (rivulets, puddles, etc.) or mud. Transmission to humans occurs via small skin lesions or mucosal contacts through direct or indirect contact with infected rodent urine. The clinical picture ranges from flu-like general symptoms to encephalitis or blood poisoning.

Following the massive earthquakes of 6 February 2023 and numerous severe aftershocks, 44'218 deaths and 108'068 injuries were reported in Turkey and over 5'914 deaths and 10'857 injuries in northwestern Syria.In northwestern Syria, there have been 506 cholera cases and 21 related deaths as of 27 February 2023, according to a report published by the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In addition, the number of suspected cholera cases in the region is estimated at 50'000.