Seychelles lifts travel restriction to Madagascar |30 November 2017

The Public Health Authority (PHA) is lifting the imposed travel restriction to Madagascar and has informed that there is also no trade embargo with that neigbouring country.

However, surveillance at the ports of entry, in laboratory and the health facilities are being maintained.

Isolation facilities at the military training academy are to be returned to the academy with immediate effect and ships can enter port for normal activity without having to spend the seven days outside Madagascar first.

These developments follow the announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that the plague outbreak in Madagascar is officially contained.

The WHO made this update on November 27, which marked 14 days after the last case of plague was reported.

The PHA has thanked the public for their support and understanding during this outbreak, adding that it will provide periodic update as and when required.

Since the onset of the plague outbreak in Madagascar in August 2017, 2348 cases have been reported with 206 deaths (case fatality rate of about 9%).

The Ministry of Health in Madagascar officially announced the containment of the acute urban pneumonic plague outbreak on November 25, 2017. However, because plague is endemic in Madagascar and as the plague season lasts from September to April, more cases of bubonic and sporadic pneumonic plague are expected to be reported until April 2018.

It is therefore important that certain surveillance measures continue through to the end of the plague season. Based on its guidelines, the WHO has reported that due to concerted national and international response the current and unprecedented outbreak of plague in Madagascar, which started on August 1, 2017, has been contained. International risk of spread of the plague was assessed to be low during the outbreak and now with the absence of new cases, that risk is even lower.