COTE D IVOIRE: Deadly Yellow fever outbreak
Pastor Dale Morgan
COTE D IVOIRE: Deadly Yellow fever outbreak*
12 Oct 2006 15:59:11 GMT
Source: IRIN
ABIDJAN, 12 October (IRIN) - Two cases of deadly and untreatable Yellow
Fever have been reported in Cote d'Ivoire in the last week, and health
officials fear that the outbreak could quickly spread if funds are not
raised for a widespread vaccination campaign.
Yellow fever is a deadly viral disease spread by mosquitoes. Epidemics
can spread to an average 20 percent of people in affected areas, 50
percent of whom may die, according to the United Nations World Health
Organisation (WHO). There is no treatment for people already infected,
but a simple vaccination can stop the disease in its tracks.
The early symptoms of the disease are similar to malaria, making it hard
to recognise, experts say. Early symptoms are fever, muscle pain, and
nausea, after which an infected patient may either recover, or relapse
and experience jaundice, bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth, kidney
failure, and death.
"The most important thing is to do an investigation, and then to
vaccinate all the population in the immediate zone. Then, there must be
a wider vaccination of other people who may have come into contact with
the infection," said Kone Souleymane, spokesperson for WHO in Abidjan.
Public health officials in Cote d'Ivoire also need to be taught how to
manage the outbreak, WHO said a statement released on Wednesday warning
about the outbreak.
The WHO has launched an appeal for CFA 430m (US $806,000) to buy
sufficient vaccine to inoculate 650,000 people.
"If nothing is done in the next three months to stem the yellow fever
epidemic, the illness could spread, taking into account the mobility of
populations," said Dr. Genevieve Saki-Nekouressi, yellow fever expert at
WHO. "It is necessary to put a vaccination team in place as soon as
possible."
One of the cases discovered last week was recorded in a 30-year old man
in Korhogo, which is in the rebel-held north of the country, 500km north
of the country's main city Abidjan, WHO's statement said.
The second case is in a 16 year-old girl in Ouragahio, which is in the
government-controlled central-west. Cote d'Ivoire has been split in two
since a failed coup in September 2002 triggered a brief civil war.
The Pasteur Institute in Abidjan and a WHO regional laboratory in the
Senegal capital, Dakar, confirmed both incidences.
WHO vaccinated 26,000 people against yellow fever in February 2006 in
Bouna, in the east of the country. A vaccination campaign was also
conducted in the main city, Abidjan, in 2001.
Yellow Fever is on the rise again in Africa, although an effective
vaccine has been available for 60 years. The disease is now a serious
public health issue, WHO says.