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Earthquake In Haiti
Released: February 10, 2010
- Travel Health Warning
- Recommendations for travellers going to Haiti in response to the earthquake and for those working or caring for individuals in transit from or arriving from Haiti
- Don't Forget...
- Other Related Information
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) recommends that Canadians avoid all non-essential travel to Haiti following a major earthquake.
On January 12th, 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 occurred in Haiti close to the capital, Port-Au-Prince. Tremors were felt in Dominican Republic and Cuba. The earthquake caused extensive damage to infrastructure. Power and telecommunications are severely disrupted. There is an international rescue operation underway, but damage to roads, ports, and the airport around Port-Au-Prince is making delivery of aid difficult. Healthcare systems are severely strained due to the large number of injuries and deaths, and widespread damage to health care infrastructure. Service delivery is hindered.
PHAC, along with other federal government departments, is closely monitoring the situation in Haiti. For more information on Canada?s response, refer to the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website.
Travellers should consult Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada?s Travel
report on Haiti for safety and security information regarding travel to affected areas. The following recommendations are to advise travellers going to Haiti in response to the earthquake and for those individuals working with refugees, orphans and/or displaced persons from Haiti.
Recommendations for travellers going to Haiti in response to earthquake and for those working and caring for individuals in transit from or arriving from Haiti
- Be prepared before going to Haiti and while you are there
- Get vaccinated
- Make sure you are up-to-date with all of your routine vaccinations, especially a current tetanus vaccine.
- Other recommended vaccines include hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, (if staying in Haiti consider rabies vaccine), and seasonal and H1N1 flu
- Follow safe food and water precautions
There is an increased risk of food and waterborne diseases such as travellers' diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and leptospirosis (if travelling via Dominican Republic):- Always wash your hands before eating and drinking.
- Eat only food that has been well cooked and is still hot when served. Avoid uncooked foods, especially shellfish and salads.
- Drink and use ice from only purified water that has been boiled or disinfected with chlorine or iodine, or commercially bottled water in sealed containers. Carbonated drinks, including beer, are usually safe.
- Avoid unpasteurized dairy products.
- Avoid food from street vendors.
- Avoid swimming in polluted or contaminated water.
- Brush your teeth with purified or bottled water
- Protect yourself from insects and animals
Insect borne and animal diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, lymphatic filariasis as well as rabies are risks in Haiti.- To protect yourself from mosquito bites:
- Talk to a health care provider about appropriate anti-malarial medication
- Cover up: Wear light-coloured, long-sleeved, tucked-in shirts, long pants, shoes (not sandals), and a hat;
- Use insect repellent on exposed skin. Insect repellents containing DEET are the most effective;
- Sleep under a bed net, preferably treated with insecticide;
- Consider your accommodations: Stay in a well-screened or completely enclosed air-conditioned room;
- Apply a permethrin insecticide to tents and clothing and other travel gear for greater protection
- Consider bringing your own linen or sleeping bag
- To protect yourself from mosquito bites:
- Bring a travel first aid kit which could include:
- Basic first aid supplies such as a thermometer, sun screen, gauze, bandages, ointments for cleaning wounds, hand sanitizer, etc.
- Aspirin, ibuprofen and/or acetaminophen (Advil and/or Tylenol) for pains and fevers;
- Anti-diarrhoeal medication, laxatives, antacids, and oral rehydration salts for upset stomachs; ; talk to a health care provider about self treatment for travellers' diarrhea (TD).
- Anti-histamines for allergies, cough suppressant and/or drops for throat and chest irritations;
- Anti-malarial pills or other prescribed medications -- remember to bring copies of your prescriptions;
- An adequate supply of personal prescribed medications to cover possible extension of stay in Haiti.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety glasses, work boots, leather gloves, rubber gloves for handling blood or body fluids.
- Be aware
- Access to adequate medical care in Haiti will be very limited.
- There will be limited or no commercial accommodation available.
- The stressful situations that you may encounter while providing assistance to earthquake victims in Haiti may cause emotional and/or psychological difficulties. Make sure you have necessary mental health support while in Haiti and after you return.
- There is a high incidence of HIV infection in Haiti. If you have a needle stick, puncture, cut or blood splash to your eyes, you should seek immediate medical attention.
- Persons with chronic or unstable medical conditions should discuss whether to travel to Haiti with their health care provider.
- Get vaccinated
- For travellers going to Haiti and individuals working with or caring for those in transit from or arriving from Haiti
- Protect yourself
- Wash your hands with soap and water frequently
- Keep your hands away from your face
- Practice proper cough and sneeze etiquette
- Cough and sneeze into your arm, not your hand
- If you use a tissue, dispose of it as soon as possible and remember to wash your hands afterwards.
- While providing care to someone with diarrhoea and/or vomiting or when changing diapers:
- If possible, wear a gown and gloves
- Remove and dispose of them after in a plastic bag and close
- Wash your hands
- Wear gloves when touching blood, body fluids, mucous membranes and broken skin as well as when handling anything that may have been soiled with blood and body fluids.
- If you are going to be providing medical care to or working with ill or displaced persons, see your health care provider to discuss whether you should get tuberculin skin testing before and/or after travel, in accordance with the recommendations of the Canadian Committee to Advise on Tropical medicine and Travel (CATMAT)
- If you are in close contact with a person who is ill with a fever and coughing, producing sputum or is a suspected or known tuberculosis (TB) patient:
- Protect yourself
- After your return home to Canada
- If you get sick when you return to Canada
- see a health care provider and inform them that you have travelled to Haiti and inform them what activities you participated in while in Haiti.
- and you work in an occupation such as health care, food service and child care, seek medical attention immediately.
- Remember that symptoms of malaria, which includes a fever, can occur up to one year after your return.
- If you get sick when you return to Canada
Don't Forget..
- Consult a doctor, nurse or health care provider, or visit a travel health clinic at least six weeks before you travel.
- What to do if you get sick when you are travelling.
- Adequate access to medical care will be extremely limited
- What to do if you get sick after you return to Canada.
- Know what vaccines to get and when to get them.
- Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade ? Travel Report: Haiti
- World Health Organization ? Public Health Risk Assessment and Interventions: Earthquake - Haiti
- Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Lung Association, The Canadian Tuberculosis Standards 6th Edition, 2007, Chapter 16
- Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel (CATMAT) ? Risk Assessment and Prevention of Tuberculosis among Travellers
- Public Health Agency of Canada ? Guidance: infection prevention and control measures for prehospital care