ReliefWeb

The following syndromes have been flagged:

• Acute Fever and Rash: French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna
• Dengue-like illness: Samoa

Other updates:

Measles

• Samoa Ministry of Health (MoH) declared an outbreak on 16 October 2019. As of 27 October 2019 there have been 314 suspected measles cases with 15 confirmed cases and 146 laboratory results pending. To date, there have been three related deaths; a 14 month-old; a 8 month old and a 37 year old, all are highly suspected measles, awaiting laboratory confirmation. For further details please refer to Measles Outbreak Situation report No.2 post on PacNet on 31 October 2019. [Source: Samoa MoH measles outbreak Situation report No.1]

• Tonga MoH have declared an outbreak on 23 October 2019, following the detection of cases in a cohort of the national high school boys rugby team that returned from New Zealand. As at 28 October, 107 cases of confirmed or suspected measles have been identified in Tonga. Clinicians have reported that cases are generally experiencing a mild illness. There have been no deaths reported. There is currently no evidence to suggest that new lines of transmission have occurred. Cases are epidemiologically linked to the initial imported cases.For further details please refer to PacNet post on 30 October 2019. [Source: Tonga MoH Measles Situation report No.3]

• From 1 January 2019 to 31 October 2019 there have been 1962 confirmed cases of measles notified across New Zealand. Of these confirmed cases 1584 (81%) are in the Auckland region. [ Source: MoH NZ].

Dengue

• Yap state, FSM: A total of 49 new cases were seen during epi week 41 (week ending 20 October) bringing the total of 942 cases since January 1, 2019. Dengue serotype-3 is in circulation. There were 5 cases were admitted in epi week 43, bringing the total of admissions up to 101 in all. There have been two deaths related to the outbreak. [Source: Yap state Dengue Situation report No.13]

• Marshall Islands : As of 27 October 2019, there have been 914 dengue like illness of which 280 have been lab confirmed since June 2016. Dengue serotype-3 is in circulation. The outbreak week is slowing down in Ebeye and ongoing in Majuro. There have been no cases reported in the outer atolls. One death and one severe dengue patient evacuated out-of-country to date. For further details please refer to Situation Report 27 October posted on PacNet earlier today.

• The dengue serotype-3 in Palau seems to be slowing down. Between 7 - 13 October, 2019, there were 10 new cases reported. This brings the total for the month of October 2019 to 15 and from December 1, 2018 - October 13, 2019 to 644 cases. There have been two deaths attributed to dengue infection during this outbreak. [Source: Palau MoH]

• Guam identified a new locally acquired case this week. That brings the total dengue cases identified to 18 (11 locally acquired and 7 imported). Guam continues its response activities that include enhanced surveillance, vector control, vector surveillance, and community outreach. [Source: Guam Dept of Health]

Leptospirosis

• Yap state, FSM: there were 5 Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) positive case seen during epi Week 42 (week ending 20 October 2019), bringing the total of RDT positive cases since January 1, 2019 to 144. The cases are distributed evenly among the age groups and more among the 60 years old and over. The overall attack rate for Yap is 11.5/1000 and the highest attack rate (20.2/1000) are among those over 65+ years old. There were no Leptospirosis admissions in this reporting week. Total admissions remain at 34. There has been one death associated with the Leptospirosis outbreak. The outbreak appears to be slowing down. [ Source: Yap state Leptospirosis situation report No.15]