Gains in fight to control yellow fever outbreak: but response must continue
Thursday, 2016/08/11 | 06:46:59
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WHO statement
The yellow fever epidemic in Angola, first reported in late January 2016, appears to be declining, with no new cases confirmed in the last 6 weeks. However, WHO and partners continue to provide support to Angola as well as to Democratic Republic of the Congo to control the outbreak there.
More than 17 million additional people are expected to be vaccinated in massive campaigns scheduled to take place in both countries before the rainy season begins in this part of Africa in September.
The outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo have posed special challenges for ministries of health, and responding partners, including WHO. This is the first time partners have had to manage such a large outbreak of yellow fever in a dense, urban setting.
As both Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola are endemic for yellow fever, sporadic cases have simultaneously occurred in remote, rural areas, adding to the existing logistical challenges. This includes ensuring that people in hard-to-reach areas have access to vaccination as well as creating infrastructure to keep vaccines at the right temperature until they are administered.
More than 42 countries in the world are endemic for yellow fever and regularly experience outbreaks. However, transmission in 2016 has been explosive and rapidly exhausted the usual global emergency stockpile of 6 million vaccine doses managed by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision (WHO, UNICEF, MSF and IFRC). This rise in yellow fever cases is probably due to the unusual severity of El Niño, which has led to a higher than usual density of the mosquitoes that transmit the disease.
See more: http://www.who.int/en/ |
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