Northern Mariana Islands Suffer Damage from Super Typhoon Yutu

The 55,210 residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are bracing for months without electricity or running water after being the landing point of the strongest storm to hit any part of the USA during 2018. 

In reaction to this catastrophic event, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Level 3 Travel Alert, Avoid unnecessary Travel, on October 30, 2018. 

Even after Super Typhoon Yutu had moved away from this US territory, travelers to the Northern Mariana Island may experience serious health risks, and medical care may not be available, says the CDC. 

The Mariana Islands are an archipelago comprising the summits of 15 mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the western North Pacific Ocean, located between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east.

As a result of damaged infrastructure and compromised sanitation, the risk of infectious diseases is increased after a natural disaster. 

Contaminated drinking water in some areas may create conditions for outbreaks of infectious diseases such as leptospirosis, dengue, hepatitis A, typhoid, vibriosis, and influenza, says the CDC. 

If you must travel to the area, protect yourself by following the CDC’s advice such as the following:

• Before your trip, make an appointment with a travel medicine specialist at a pharmacy or your health care provider 1 month before you depart to get needed vaccines and medicines, including vaccines against tetanus, hepatitis A, and seasonal flu.
• Pack a travel health kit with your prescription medicines and over-the-counter medicines, and first aid supplies to last your whole trip.
• Bring your health insurance card.
• Authorized humanitarian aid workers may need to pack additional items, including personal protective equipment (PPE), which may be scarce at their destination.
• Leave copies of your itinerary, contact information, credit cards, and passport with someone at home, in case they are lost during travel.
• Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Buy travel health and medical evacuation insurance in case you need to be medically evacuated. If you are injured or get sick during your trip, medical care is likely to be unavailable.

Vaccines cannot protect you from many diseases in the Northern Mariana Islands, so your behaviors are important, says the CDC.