Travel Vaccine Breaking News

One of North America's favorite vacation destinations, located just 193 miles east of South Florida, accessible by boat or plane, has been informed by Canada to 'Exercise a high degree of caution.'

On June 3, 2025, Canada affirmed that the Commonwealth of The Bahamas is experiencing a high level of civil unrest, especially in Nassau and Freeport.

The Bahamas is an island country located in the Atlantic Ocean, welcoming approximately 11 million visitors in 2024, many of whom came from Canada and the United States.

Amongst the various warnings, Canada states that the water sports rental industry in the Bahamas is poorly regulated, and reputable operators are limited. Boating accidents occur frequently, particularly on jet skis.

Canada offers the following advice to vacationers: Only rent water sports equipment from reputable, registered operators. Ensure that proper training is provided before using the equipment, and verify that beach and aquatic equipment is safe and in good condition.

The U.S. State Department has also issued a Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution travel advisory for The Bahamas.

Similar to Canada, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau issued a Security Alert on April 9, 2025, advising U.S. citizens of the risks associated with renting jet skis in The Bahamas.

The Embassy wrote, Nassau jet ski operators have raped and sexually assaulted two U.S. citizen women in 2025, and three rapes were reported in 2024.

Women victims reported that male jet ski operators picked them up from downtown Nassau and Paradise Island beaches. This includes the area from Junkanoo Beach to Saunders Beach and Cabbage Beach.

The victims said they were raped and assaulted on isolated islands near New Providence.

Furthermore, due to security risks, U.S. government employees working in The Bahamas are prohibited from renting and using jet skis on New Providence and the Paradise Islands.

From a health perspective, mosquito-transmitted disease reporting from The Bahamas appears lacking.

While the entire Region of the Americas, including the Caribbean countries, set records for Dengue virus infections in 2024, The Bahamas didn't report any cases. Nor has it reported any in 2025.

Which leads to questions about the number of Chikungunya, Malaria, and Zika infections vacationers experience following a Bahamas vacation.

However, the U.S. CDC did include The Bahamas in a recent measles outbreak alert.

Therefore, when scheduling a quick trip to enjoy the warm waters of the Caribbean in June 2025, vacationers should heed the advice from these government agencies and exercise caution. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that the Republic of Sudan's Khartoum State is facing an infrastructure breakdown and severe constraints on access to healthcare.

Since May 2025, there has been a rapid increase in cholera cases in Khartoum State, with over 16,000 cumulative cases and 239 deaths reported.

Effective as of June 10, 2025, a 10-day reactive oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaign was launched in five localities to protect more than 2.6 million people aged 1 year and above from cholera infection, interrupt transmission, and help contain the ongoing cholera outbreak.

WHO Representative in Sudan, Dr Shible Sahbani, commented in a press release, "The vaccines will help stop cholera in its tracks as we strengthen other response interventions."

Khartoum is the capital city of Sudan, with over 7 million residents, located adjacent to the Nile rivers.

The WHO's Global Cholera and Acute Watery Diarrhoea Dashboard was updated in June 2025, indicating that over 224,000 cholera cases and 2,800 related fatalities were reported from 26 countries this year.

Cholera is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by consuming food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It poses a global threat to public health.

As of June 12, 2025, OCV remains in limited supply worldwide, except for the United States.

According to an analysis recently published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fewer infants were admitted to hospitals struggling to breathe from Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) last season. 

This positive trend was announced in the MMWR (74(16);273–281) on May 8, 2025, following the approval of RSV vaccines and antibody treatments for the 2024-2025 season.

Data from the RSV-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RSV-NET) and New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN) showed infants aged 0–7 months (eligible for protection with maternal vaccination or nirsevimab), 2024–25 RSV-associated hospitalization rates were lower compared with the 2018–20 pooled rates.

The most significant estimated rate reduction was observed among infants aged 0–2 months (RSV-NET: 52%, 95% CI = 49%–56%; NVSN: 45%, 95% CI = 32%–57%) and during peak hospitalization periods (December–February). 

In a sensitivity analysis of the NVSN surveillance site in Houston, Texas, where the RSV season began before vaccine and antibody treatments were available, the effect was even more pronounced, with a 71% drop in infant hospitalizations.

The findings suggest the importance of protecting infants born during the RSV season through either maternal vaccination during pregnancy or nirsevimab (Beyfortus) administration in the first week of life, ideally during the hospitalization for birth.

The latest provisional data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show an increase in travel-associated malaria cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, exceeding the levels seen in recent years.

As of June 10, 2025, the UKHSA data indicate that imported malaria cases remain at concerning levels in the UK, despite a slight decrease in diagnoses, from 2,106 in 2023 to 1,812 in 2024.

Most cases were reported during peak summer travel months between July and October.

The World Health Organization's latest malaria report estimated 263 million malaria cases and 597,000 related fatalities worldwide in 2023.

The WHO African Region bears the heaviest burden of malaria disease, with Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania being among the countries most affected.

Dr Diana Ayoola Mabayoje, co-founder of African Diaspora Malaria Initiative (ADMI), commented in a media release, 'Our focus is on community engagement and outreach, and we will be targeting African communities in London ahead of summer travel.'

Malaria is a potentially fatal disease, but it is almost entirely preventable when antimalarial tablets are taken correctly.

Furthermore, two malaria vaccines are now offered in specific countries, such as in Africa.

Dengue fever is endemic in most countries in Southeast Asia and continues to pose a significant public health threat in tropical regions, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. 

Since a recent Dengue fever outbreak began in Malaysia in late 2022, 13 states and three federal territories have been impacted.

According to the World Health Organization, Malaysia confirmed 122,423 Dengue cases and 117 related fatalities in 2024, a 17% increase from the number recorded in 2023.

Without widespread access to a Dengue prevention vaccine, the mosquito-transmitted disease continued to spread in Malaysia in 2025.

Recent data published by the Dengue For Community Portal indicate that Taman Mawar - Sendang was last week's Dengue hotspot, reporting 158 new cases.

Unlike Malaysia, Thailand recently launched a vaccination campaign to eliminate the disease burden on the population and the healthcare system. A large-scale study was launched in April 2025 in Nakhon Phanom province, involving 35,000 children.

Approved by the National Communicable Disease Committee, the clinical trial aims to assess the effectiveness of the QDENGA live-attenuated dengue vaccine, which has already received clearance from Thailand's Food and Drug Administration.

Local media reported on June 10, 2025, that Dr. Panumas Yanawetsakul, Director General of the Department of Disease Control, stated the trial would span three years, after which the vaccine could be added to Thailand's universal healthcare scheme.

If approved, Thailand would join over 30 countries that offer Takeda's QDENGA in 2025.

As of June 2025, QDENGA is not offered in the United States.

According to an update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) on June 4, 2025, six countries reported additional polio cases last week.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, located in South Asia, reported a case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) from Gilgit-Baltistan, bringing its total number of cases to 11 in 2025.

Additionally, two WPV1-positive environmental samples were reported from Balochistan and Punjab, indicating the risk of additional cases being reported in 2025.

In 2024, 74 WPV1 cases were reported in Pakistan.

According to the European CDC, the last WPV infection in Europe was in 1998, and the World Health Organization declared the European Region polio-free in 2002. 

Five other countries reported circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases last week: Chad, Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Niger, and Yemen.

Additionally, Papua New Guinea reported acute flaccid paralysis cases have been reported across 11 provinces, with 20 cases testing negative for poliovirus and 28 cases still under investigation, as of June 6, 2025.

Since polio is a vaccine-preventable disease, the ECDC published a guide for children and adults that focuses on strengthening the capacities of healthcare providers to better address concerns about vaccination and tackle obstacles to vaccination uptake.

In the United States, Polio vaccination has been part of the routine childhood immunization schedule for decades. Since 2000, the Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) has been the only polio vaccine offered. In July 2022, a case of polio caused by VDPV2 in an unvaccinated individual from Rockland County, New York.

The U.S. CDC recommends that an IPV booster dose may be advisable when visiting a poliovirus endemic area in 2025.

While not every tick bite can pass the Lyme disease virus to a person, avoiding bites is the best way to prevent this severe disease in 2025. Since tick bites can occur year-round, they generally peak during the warmer months in the northeastern United States, between April and September.

However, this year has started differently.

According to new data posted by the U.S. CDC's Tick Bite Data Tracker, the number of emergency room visits related to a tick bite has been decreasing over the past month.

The CDC's data may not accurately reflect the actual spread of Lyme disease into the Midwest in 2025.

Last year, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Lyme disease was the most common tick-borne disease in Michigan. Cases in Michigan have increased by 168% over the last five years.

As a Lyme disease prevention update, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved a vaccine.

But an innovative Lyme disease vaccine candidate (VLA15) is progressing in late-stage clinical trials.