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Volume 19, Number 7—July 2013
Research

Travel-associated Illness Trends and Clusters, 2000–2010

Karin LederComments to Author , Joseph Torresi, John S. Brownstein, Mary E. Wilson, Jay S. Keystone, Elizabeth Barnett, Eli Schwartz, Patricia Schlagenhauf, Annelies Wilder-Smith, Francesco Castelli, Frank von Sonnenburg, David O. Freedman, and Allen C. Cheng, for the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network
Author affiliations: Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia (K. Leder); Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (K. Leder, A.C. Cheng); Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia (J. Torresi); University of Melbourne, Parkville (J. Torresi); Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (J.S. Brownstein); Harvard Medical School, Boston (J.S. Brownstein); Harvard School of Public Health, Boston (M.E. Wilson); Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (J.S. Keystone); University of Toronto, Toronto (J.S. Keystone); Boston Medical Center, Boston (E. Barnett); Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Isreal (E. Schwartz); Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel (E. Schwartz); University of Zurich WHO Collaborating Centre for Travellers’ Health, Zurich, Switzerland (P. Schlagenhauf); Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore (A. Wilder-Smith); University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy (F. Castelli); University of Munich, Munich, Germany (F. von Sonnenburg); University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA (D.O. Freedman); Alfred Hospital, Melbourne (A.C. Cheng)

Main Article

Table 2

Main clusters detected among GeoSentinel patients, 2000–2010

Diagnosis, cluster Location and dates of clusters Cases/no. ill travelers (no. expected cases, p value) Comments
Malaria
Cluster A Benin, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, 2007 mid Jul–mid Oct 44/185 (2.6, p<0.0001) No definitive outbreaks discernible on ProMED-mail or in published literature corresponding to these clusters
Cluster B
 Mauritania, Western Sahara, Mali, Senegal, 2000 mid Sep–mid Oct
 19/53, (0.5, p<0.0001)
Enteric fever
 Nepal, 2009 Oct 5–20
 24/40 (0.03, p<0.0001)
 Associated with an outbreak of Salmonella paratyphi A among Israeli travelers to Nepal (5)
Dengue
Cluster A Thailand, 2002 Apr–Jul 44/257 (1.7, p<0.0001) Reported in (6)
Cluster B India, 2003 Sep–Nov 13/368 (0.9, p<0.0001)

Main Article

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Main Article

1Additional members of the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network who contributed data (in descending order of contribution): Kevin Kain and Andrea Boggild, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Louis Loutan and François Chappuis, Geneva, Switzerland; DeVon C. Hale, Rahul Anand, and Stephanie S. Gelman, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Graham Brown, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Giampiero Carosi, Brescia, Italy; Bradley A. Connor, New York, New York, USA; N. Jean Haulman, David Roesel, and Elaine C. Jong, Seattle, Washington, USA; Phyllis E. Kozarsky, Jessica Fairley, and Carlos Franco-Paredes, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Marc Shaw and Annemarie Hern, Auckland, New Zealand; Christina M. Coyle and Murray Wittner, Bronx, New York, USA; Lin H. Chen, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Noreen Hynes, R. Bradley Sack, and Robin McKenzie, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Carmelo Licitra and Antonio Crespo, Orlando, Florida, USA; and Thomas B. Nutman and Amy D. Klion, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Page created: June 17, 2013
Page updated: June 17, 2013
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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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