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 !

An increase in leishmaniasis cases in the north of the country has been reported in Honduras. In May of this year alone, 20 cases were registered. For the full year 2022, the number of cases was 84 (2021: 112 cases). An increase in cutaneous leishmaniasis was also observed in Nicaragua in the first months of the year, with 306 cases.

There have been 9 human rabies deaths reported from the Malaysian state of Sarawak, located on the island of Borneo, since the beginning of the year. Out of 181 dogs tested for rabies in the state, 42 were infected.

A dengue fever outbreak in the Afar Region in Northeastern Ethiopia has been reported. It is estimated that over 1'000 suspected dengue cases have been registered. The large number of displaced people due to conflict and ongoing flooding are aggravating the epidemic situation.

According to reports from South African health authorities, there is a significant increase in malaria cases in the endemic provinces in the north and northeast of the country. Early detection and treatment are essential for malaria cases. Untreated malaria rapidly develops into a severe disease with a potentially fatal outcome.

Colombia reports a higher than usual number of dengue cases this year. A total of 32'206 cases have been registered through April, including 108 deaths. The majority of cases are from the following regions: Meta, Tolima, Cundinamarca, Barranquilla, Sucre, Cartagena, Santander, Cali, Cesar, Northern Santander, Atlantic, Cordoba and Guajira.

The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has reported the first Zika virus infection in Switzerland since 2019. It is an imported case. In Switzerland itself, no locally acquired Zika virus infection has been detected so far. Globally, Zika transmissions have been at low levels since 2018. Since the start of mandatory reporting in Switzerland in 2016, the FOPH has registered a total of 75 Zika cases.