Current Travel Advice

Outbreaks of avian influenza have occurred in Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, China, Laos, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. It has been reported in Turkey, Romania and Croatia.

The WHO has not recommended that the general public avoid travel to any of the countries affected by H5N1, however please see the Health Services News section for recent advice about travel to China.

For recent developments with regard to Avian Influenza, as reported by the WHO, click on this link.

Please note that in alignment with WHO guidance Shell Health Services does not any longer recommend vaccination of business travellers and transferees for seasonal influenza when traveling to countries affected by the avian influenza H5N1 virus.

• Educate yourself and others who may be traveling with you about avian influenza A (H5N1). (Refer to 'Background' on this site)
• Ask your company health department for a travel health kit containing basic first aid and medical supplies, including a thermometer and alcohol-based hand rub for hand hygiene.
• Identify in-country health-care resources in advance of your trip.
• Check your Shell health insurance cover.

• Personal hygiene: hand washing (Cleaning your hands often using either soap and water or waterless alcohol-based hand sanitizers)
• Thorough cooking of poultry products (70°C). Also avoid raw eggs or lightly cooked egg products (such as runny eggs).
• Do not use raw or soft-boiled eggs in foods that will not be cooked. Avoid consuming foods that contain raw or soft-boiled eggs.
• Separate raw meat from cooked or ready-to-eat foods. Do not use the same chopping board or the same knife for preparing raw meat and cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
• Do not place cooked meat back on the same plate or surface it was on before it was cooked.
• Avoid contact with live poultry (e.g. chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and quail). Avoid contact with wild birds and with animals in live food markets and poultry farms, and any surfaces that appear to be contaminated with faeces from poultry or other animals, as the droppings of infected birds may contain large amounts of the virus.
• CDC does not recommend the routine use of masks or other personal protective equipment while in public areas.
• If you become sick with symptoms such as a fever, difficulty breathing, cough, or any illness that requires prompt medical attention, contact your Shell designated health provider.

• Monitor your health for 10 days.
• If you become ill with fever, difficulty breathing, cough, or any illness during this period, consult your doctor.
• Before visiting your doctor, tell him/her about your symptoms, recent travel and if you have had direct poultry contact so that he or she can be aware you have traveled to an area reporting avian influenza.