Ethiopia Records 22 Cases of Yellow Fever. June 2016

Ethiopia is the latest African nation to record cases of yellow fever cases following an outbreak of the disease in Angola last year.

According to the United Nations, about 22 suspectedcases of yellow fever have been reported in Ethiopia. One case has been recorded in the Republic of Congo and two in Sao Tome.

An investigation to determine if the cases are connected to the outbreak in Angola is ongoing. Health officials will try to identify the vaccination status of the patients involved in these cases.

The yellow fever outbreak in Angola began in December 2015. As of June 2016, over 2000 suspected cases of the disease have been reported in the country. Up to 788 of these cases have been confirmed by lab tests and about 325 people have died from the disease.

Despite an aggressive vaccination campaign, the disease has continued to spread.

Ugandan officials have announced 68 suspected cases of yellow fever infections. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reported 52 cases.

Health officials from the DRC have confirmed a connection between yellow fever in their country the outbreak of the disease in Angola. About 41 cases have been traced to people who recently traveled to or from Angola. The infections are mainly concentrated in the cities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is assisting the national authorities of the affected countries to combat the disease. About 1,983,507 people in Kongo Central and Kinshasa have reportedly been vaccinated.

Angola has reportedly vaccinated nearly half of its population. However, health officials have expressed concern over the high risk of the disease spreading. There are also concerns that non-immunized travelers can spread the disease internationally.

Source

Comment: There are quite a few Indian traveling to Ethiopia for business purposes. It is very important that they take the Yellow Fever Vaccination.

Zambia on alert after yellow fever outbreak in neighbouring countries. June 2016

Lusaka: Health authorities in Zambia said on Friday that surveillance measures have been heightened in border areas following an outbreak of yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Yellow fever has been raging since last December in Angola, especially in the capital Luanda, killing 293 people to date and infecting another 2,267. Cases have also been imported to Kinshasa in DRC, Xinhua reported.

Deputy Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the ministry was currently monitoring the situation on the two neighbouring countries and has since heightened activities that will prevent the spread of the disease into the country.

The official however said so far no yellow fever has been reported in the country, local HOT FM radio reported.  

IANS

First Published: Saturday, June 4, 2016 - 03:43

Ghana records cases of Yellow Fever - June 2016

Four cases of Yellow Fever have been recorded in the Brong-Ahafo and Volta regions over the last one month, the Ghana Health service has announced.

No casualty has, however, been recorded.

A statement cautioning Ghanaians about the disease noted that there is no need to panic since the virus is being contained.

Below are details of the statement

CONFIRMED CASES OF YELLOW FEVER (YF) - BRONG-AHAFO AND VOLTA REGIONS

Over the past four weeks, the Ghana Health Service has received reports of confirmed Yellow Fever (YF) cases from the Brong-Ahafo and Volta regions.

A total of four cases with no deaths have been reported.

Three (3) are from Jaman South district in the Brong-Ahafo region & one (1) from Central Tongu district in the Volta Region.

*THERE IS NO NEED TO PANIC AS THE CASES ARE CONFINED TO A FEW COMMUNITIES IN THE AFOREMENTIONED DISTRICTS, AND PREVIOUS WIDESPREAD VACCINATION IN 2011 IN THOSE DISTRICTS PROVIDED MOST PEOPLE WITH IMMUNITY AGAINST YELLOW FEVER. (THE YELLOW FEVER VACCINE IS PROTECTIVE FOR LIFE)*



SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF YELLOW FEVER
Yellow Fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease. It causes bleeding which may come out from any of the body openings (e.g.: the Nose, Mouth, Bloody stools, Vomiting Blood at the end stage). The symptoms may also include fever with jaundice in the early stages and with multiple organ dysfunctions resulting in kidney and liver failure.

TREATMENT: Treatment is mostly symptomatic.

MODE OF SPREAD: Spread is through the bite of infected Aedes mosquito.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES:
1. Prevention is by vaccination - The vaccine is very effective. One injection of the vaccine protects one for life.
2. Avoidance and protection against mosquito bites.

CONTAINMENT MEASURES AND RESPONSE ACTIONS DONE
1. Public education on signs, symptoms and prevention.
2. Yellow Fever vaccination coverage in the affected districts has been assessed & found to be high in those districts. Preventive vaccination coverage was done in the affected communities in 2011 & Yellow fever vaccination protects one for life.

3. Planned selective reactive mop up vaccination in the affected communities / sub-districts.

4. Alert sent to all regions and nearby districts of the affected areas.
5. Surveillance has been enhanced across the country.


WAY FORWARD:
The risk of further transmission is low due to high Yellow fever vaccination coverage in routine EPI and previous preventive vaccination campaign. However, we need to sustain Enhanced surveillance, Intensive public education of the disease, Preventive measures and what to do if one suspects Yellow Fever.


Source:Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM

WHO: Yellow fever situation report. June 2016

Jun 03, 2016

A yellow fever outbreak was detected in Luanda, Angola late in December 2015. The first cases were confirmed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa on 19 January 2016 and by the Institut Pasteur Dakar (IP-D) on 20 January. Subsequently, a rapid increase in the number of cases has been observed.

Emergency Committee regarding yellow fever

Following the advice of the Emergency Committee (EC) convened on 19 May 2016, WHO Director-General decided that urban yellow fever outbreaks in Angola and DRC are serious public health events which warrant intensified national action and enhanced international support. The events do not at this time constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

Statement on the Emergency Committee meeting concerning yellow fever

Summary:

Angola: 2893 suspected cases

As of 1 June 2016, Angola has reported 2893 suspected cases of yellow fever with 325 deaths. Among those cases, 788 have been laboratory confirmed. Despite extensive vaccination campaigns in several provinces, circulation of the virus persists.

Cunene and Malanje provinces have reported, for the first time since the beginning of the outbreak, 5 autochthonous cases.

Democratic Republic of The Congo: 52 laboratory confirmed cases

On 22 March 2016, the Ministry of Health of DRC confirmed cases of yellow fever in connection with Angola. The government officially declared the yellow fever outbreak on 23 April. As of 1 June, DRC has reported three probable cases and 52 laboratory confirmed cases: 44 of those are imported from Angola, reported in Kongo Central, Kinshasa and Kwango (formerly Bandundu) provinces, two are sylvatic cases in Northern provinces, and two other autochthonous cases in Ndjili (Kinshasa) and in Matadi (Kongo Central). The possibility of locally acquired infection is under investigation for at least four non-classified cases.

Uganda: 68 suspect cases

In Uganda, the Ministry of Health notified yellow fever cases in Masaka district on 9 April 2016. As of 1 June, 68 suspected cases, of which three are probable and seven are laboratory confirmed, have been reported from three districts: Masaka, Rukungiri and Kalangala. According to sequencing results, those clusters are not epidemiologically linked to Angola.

The risk of spread

The virus in Angola and DRC is largely concentrated in main cities; however there is a high risk of spread and local transmission to other provinces in both countries. There is also a high risk of potential spread to bordering countries especially those previously classified as low-risk for yellow fever disease (i.e. Namibia, Zambia) and where the population, travellers and foreign workers are not vaccinated against yellow fever.

Three countries have reported confirmed yellow fever cases imported from Angola: Democratic Republic of The Congo (DRC) (44 cases), Kenya (two cases) and People's Republic of China (11 cases). This highlights the risk of international spread through nonimmunised travellers.

A further three countries have reported suspected cases of yellow fever: Republic of Congo (one case), Sao Tome and Principe (two cases) and Ethiopia (22 cases). Investigations are ongoing to identify the vaccination status of the cases and determine if they are linked with Angola.

Risk assessment

The outbreak in Angola remains of high concern due to:

Persistent local transmission in Luanda despite the fact that approximately eight million people have been vaccinated.

Local transmission has been reported in ten highly populated provinces including Luanda. Luanda Norte, Cunene and Malenge are the provinces that most recently reported local yellow fever transmission.

The continued extension of the outbreak to new provinces and new districts.

High risk of spread to neighbouring countries. As the borders are porous with substantial crossborder social and economic activities, further transmission cannot be excluded. Viraemic travelling patients pose a risk for the establishment of local transmission especially in countries where adequate vectors and susceptible human populations are present.

Risk of establishment of local transmission in other provinces where no autochthonous cases are reported.

High index of suspicion of ongoing transmission in hard-to-reach areas like Cabinda.

Inadequate surveillance system capable of identifying new foci or areas of cases emerging.

Source