Yellow Fever Outbreak In Southern Africa.

Angola and neighboring countries in Southern Africa have been combating an outbreak of yellow fever while the U.S is dealing with Zika virus. Yellow fever was once the most feared epidemic in the world before mass vaccination campaigns were implemented in the mid-20th century. The disease is now taking a toll on a new generation in Southern African nations. Yellow fever is caused by an RNA Flavirus, the same genus that includes the Zika, dengue, and West Nile viruses. Transmission occurs from humans to humans and monkeys to humans by mosquitoes of the Aedes or species. Yellow fever has three transmission cycles. The jungle cycle occurs when mosquitoes transmit the virus from monkeys to humans who are working or visiting jungle areas. The intermediate or Savannah cycle in Africa occurs when mosquitoes transmit the virus from monkeys to humans or humans to humans living or working in areas bordering jungles. The urban cycle occurs when mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti transmit the virus between humans usually by a person infected in the jungle or Savannah setting who then carries the disease to an urban area. People infected with the yellow fever virus are asymptomatic. The incubation period is generally between 3 to 6 days. The symptoms include fever, chills, severe headache, back pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. About fifteen percent of cases will progress to a more severe second phase of the illness with symptoms including high fever, jaundice and bleeding. Death occurs from shock and failure of multiple organ systems. There is currently no treatment for yellow fever. Instead, symptoms are managed clinically under close observation. The epidemic was first detected again in the Angola’s capital city, Luanda, in late December of 2015 and the first cases were laboratory confirmed on January 19, 2016. As of July 15th, 2016, there have been 3,682 suspected cases reported in Angola, 877 of which are confirmed and 361 deaths from the disease. Suspected cases are widespread across the country, having been reported in 16 of the 18 Angola provinces. The outbreak has also erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a neighboring country of Angola, where there are 1,798 suspected cases and 85 reported deaths. Additionally, Kenya and China have reported traveled-related cases of yellow fever. The outbreak is of international concern because despite the vaccination of 15 million Angolans, local transmission is still occurring. Cross-border travel also poses a risk of further spread of the virus to other nations. There is also speculation about locally transmitted cases in hard to reach areas, such as the province of Cabinda. In Angola and the DRC, vaccination campaigns are underway to prevent the spread of this infectious disease, but a global vaccine shortage poses a life-threatening challenge to containing transmission of the virus. The current yellow fever outbreak, as with Zika and Ebola, underscores the need for global pandemic preparedness to both prevent and respond to the continuing threat of infectious diseases around the world.contributed by HuffingtonPost