Estonia, Latvia, Tourism

Maris Riekstins.

Such announcements are not in keeping with international practice, have a negative impact on the flow of tourists between both states, and in addition, are harmful to Latvia's image abroad, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said.

Estonian tourists make up an appreciable proportion of visitors to Latvia, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already received information from business people about a reduction in the numbers of tourists, and the resultant loss in revenue since the announcements were made public.

The World Health Organization has never issued a recommendation not to visit other countries on the grounds of the existence of the virus Hepatitis A in the said country, especially bearing in mind that Hepatitis A is quite widespread in a number of countries visited by tourists from the European Union. In its risk assessment regarding the incidence of Hepatitis A in Latvia the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control did not recommend avoiding visits to the Latvia, nevertheless it emphasized the importance of preventive measures.

On 18 February the State Health Department of Estonia had published information about the spread of Hepatitis A in Latvia, and had recommended for this reason not to plan any visits to Latvia.