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While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) generally issued disease outbreak alerts for other countries, it issued an official Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory (CDCHAN-00522) to notify clinicians, public health officials, and potential travelers about a measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico.
On March 7, 2025, areas in Texas (Lubbock, Houston, and Austin) and New Mexico reported 208 confirmed cases associated with this outbreak (198 in Texas and 10 in New Mexico). As a part of this outbreak, two deaths have been reported: one in Texas and one in New Mexico.
This HAN stated, 'With spring and summer travel season approaching... more cases are expected as this outbreak continues to expand.'
Talk to your doctor about the MMR vaccine, especially if you or your child plan to travel to an area with an ongoing outbreak. As of March 2025, various MMR vaccines are available.
If you plan to travel internationally, check your destination and the CDC's Global Measles Travel Health Notice for more travel health advice. The Notice includes 57 countries where measles outbreaks have been reported.
Furthermore, after domestic travel to an area with an ongoing outbreak or international travel, watch for signs and symptoms of measles for three weeks after returning to the United States.
The positive news from the CDC is that 'The risk for widespread measles outbreaks in the United States remains low.'
Since the recent Sudan virus disease (SUDV) outbreak was declared in the Republic of Uganda in late January 2025, a total of 14 cases, including four related fatalities, a case fatality ratio of 29%, have been reported.
As of March 5, 2025, 192 new contacts have been identified and are under follow-up in Kampala, Ntoroko, and Wakiso.
SUDV was first identified in Sudan in June 1976. This is the eighth outbreak, five in Uganda and three in Sudan.
According to the WHO's Disease Outbreak News (558) published on March 8, 2025, the Ministry of Health (MOH) stated, 'the risk of potential serious public health impact is high.' The MoH has scaled up its case management strategy to ensure sufficient capacities to provide care for all suspected and confirmed cases in all hot spots
The WHO says SVDV is a severe disease belonging to the same family as Ebola virus disease (EVD).
While several promising candidate therapeutics are currently advancing through clinical development, no licensed treatment is yet available to effectively address potential future outbreaks of EVD caused by the Sudan virus species.
A range of candidate SUDV vaccines and therapeutics are under development.
Since 2020, one vaccine and two candidate therapeutics (a monoclonal antibody and an antiviral) have been recommended. They are available in Uganda and are being assessed through randomized clinical trial protocols.
Two vaccines licensed against Zaire EVD will not provide cross-protection against SUDV.
Currently, the WHO advises against travel and/or trade restrictions to Uganda.
However, the U.S. CDC has issued a Travel Health Advisory, Level 2, for Unganda in February 2025.
The CDC says visitors to Uganda should avoid contact with sick people who have symptoms, such as fever, muscle pain, and rash, or contact with blood and other body fluids and semen from men who have recovered from EVD until testing shows that the virus is no longer in the semen.
With five norovirus outbreaks aboard cruise ships already reported by the U.S. CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program in 2025, there continues to be significant interest in accessing a preventive vaccine for this 'stomach virus.'
Over the past few years, viable norovirus vaccine candidates have been unsuccessful in preventing this highly contagious virus that causes acute gastroenteritis and can lead to substantial morbidity in older adults.
However, on March 5, 2025, Vaxart, Inc. announced that complete data from the Phase 1b trial of its first-generation oral pill norovirus vaccine candidate have been published in Science Translational Medicine. The data show strong and durable antibody responses and induction of norovirus-specific antibody and T cell responses.
“A key finding of this study evaluating our first-generation oral pill norovirus vaccine candidate in elderly individuals was that the antibody and serum responses observed in these participants were robust and durable, and a cross-study analysis suggested that the observed antibody and cellular responses were independent of age. These findings are encouraging given that older adults have an increased risk of norovirus-related morbidity and may have less robust immune responses following vaccination than younger individuals,” said James F. Cummings, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Vaxart, in a press release.
“Another key result was that an orally-administered vaccine can generate potent antibody responses in mucosal tissues outside the gastrointestinal tract, which could have important implications for use of our vaccine platform for norovirus and other indications.”
In January 2025, Vaxart announced that the next step in its norovirus program would be a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating its second-generation oral norovirus vaccine constructs head-to-head against its first-generation constructs. This trial is expected to initiate in the first half of 2025.
While this is a good update, it means cruise ship passengers and crew may not have access to a norovirus vaccine this year.
While most of the media attention has been on west Texas's South Plains area's ongoing measles outbreak, just a few miles to the east, New Mexico is also reporting unsettling news.
On March 6, 2025, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) confirmed that an unvaccinated resident of Lea County tested positive for measles and later died. NMDOH Scientific Laboratory has confirmed the presence of the measles virus.
The official cause of death is still under investigation by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. One in five cases requires hospitalization, and approximately three in every 1,000 cases result in death.
This new measles case brings the total number of cases to 10, all residents of Lea County. Seven cases were unvaccinated, while the remaining three had unknown vaccination histories.
As of March 5, 2025, the U.S. CDC reported 164 measles cases in nine jurisdictions this year.
Globally, about 57 countries are reporting measles outbreaks.
"We don't want to see New Mexicans getting sick or dying from measles," said Dr. Chad Smelser, NMDOH Deputy State Epidemiologist, in a press release. "The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best protection against this serious disease"
The NMDOH wrote that measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can cause severe complications. Vaccination is the best prevention method.
With ongoing exposures in Lea County, NMDOH urges residents to vaccinate with MMR to protect themselves and their families. NMDOH has scheduled free measles vaccination clinics to support community protection on March 11, 2025.
More information is available on the NMDOH website at http://measles.doh.nm.gov.
The Mayotte Regional Health Agency announced today that it has detected its first case of imported Chikungunya on the main island off the east coast of Africa.
On March 5, 2025, a Mamoudzou resident returned from visiting La Reunion Island, another of France's overseas departments. These departments are separated by the island of Madagascar and the Mozambique Channel.
Following this identification, the ARS of Mayotte immediately implemented vector control actions to identify larval breeding sites around the person's home. Local health professionals and emergency services have been informed of the situation.
No indigenous case has been reported in Mayotte to date.
Generally, a single, travel-related Chikungunya case does not generate significant actions.
However, since late August 2024, La Reunion has been facing a Chikungunya epidemic, with 3,390 cases recorded.
Furthermore, an apparent Chikungunya epidemic has increased in late February and early March 2025. During one week, 1,300 new cases of Chikungunya were confirmed.
In mainland France, 25 travel-related cases were reported in 2024. And, for the first time, Ile de France (Paris) reported a locally acquired Chikungunya case.
The World Health Organization says Chikungunya transmissions have occurred frequently in about 110 countries.
So far this year, 49,491 Chikungunya cases and two related fatalities have been confirmed in the Region of the Americas. In 2024, over 400,000 cases were confirmed.
Most people infected with the Chikungunya virus develop some symptoms 3–7 days after a bite by an infected mosquito. People at risk for more severe disease include newborns infected around the time of birth, older adults, and people with medical conditions.
Chikungunya has recently become a vaccine-preventable disease.
Since late 2023, an innovative vaccine has been available in various countries, including the United States. The U.S. CDC recommends Valneva SE's IXCHIQ® vaccine for certain international travelers in 2025. This vaccine is often offered at travel clinics and pharmacies,
Two governments recently confirmed that visiting the Republic of Singapore in 2025 can be safe, with no infectious disease outbreaks.
According to the United Kingdom and the U.S. Department of State, while no international travel can be guaranteed safe, Singapore has the lowest level of advisories.
As of March 6, 2025, the State Department's Level 1 Travel Advisory says visitors should exercise normal precautions when visiting Singapore, an island state at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia.
Last year, the U.S. Embassy in Singapore confirmed that a new version of the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program became active and recommended that visitors enroll to revive digital alerts.
With about 5 million residents, the "Garden City" has one of the highest standards of living in the world, with very good healthcare services.
Visitors in Singapore could face mosquito-transmitted health risks, including Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.
In Singapore, the first outbreak of chikungunya fever was reported in January 2008 in Little India, where Aedes aegypti was the vector implicated in transmission. In 2024, there were 14 locally acquired chikungunya cases in Singapore.
The last confirmation of a Zika virus outbreak was in 2019; individual cases have been reported in 2025.
While there is no risk of yellow fever, a certificate is required when arriving at the local airport for most travelers from countries with risk for the virus transmission.
The U.K. and U.S. agencies recommend updating visitors with routine and travel vaccinations and boosters at least one month before arrival in Singapore.
With about 13 million visitors expected this year, Singapore has become a vacationer's safe haven in 2025.
According to a recent International Visitors Survey, the Kingdom of Tonga has become a preferred destination in Polynesia. Visitor satisfaction was highly ranked, with the friendly local population, water-based attractions, and cultural activities ranking very well.
However, a mosquito-transmitted disease may curtail tourism.
Tonga's government today reported a significant increase in dengue fever cases with 30 additional new cases.
As of March 5, 2025, there have been 129 dengue cases this year.
With 45 inhabited islands, the majority of dengue cases were from Vava'u (63), the rest from Tongatapu (47) and 'Eua (19).
Tonga's Ministry of Health (MOH) says dengue Virus Type 2 (DENV-2) is responsible for the current outbreak.
This dengue outbreak subtype is different from DEN-3, which is the dominant case in the region of the Americas, including in Florida and Puerto Rica.
The MOH recommends that residents and visitors wear appropriate clothing to minimize mosquito bites, use mosquito nets and repellents such as lotion and spray, and if you are sick, watch out for severe symptoms and seek medical attention immediately.
While the U.S. CDC does not recommend getting an approved dengue vaccine, it does support various routine and travel vaccines before visiting Tonga in 2025.
