YELLOW FEVER BREAKS OUT IN LIBERIA
Press Release
H/2885
YELLOW FEVER BREAKS OUT IN LIBERIA
19951116 GENEVA, 15 November (WHO) -- A total of 146 cases of suspected yellow fever have occurred since July in the area of Buchanan, Bassa country in the West African nation of Liberia. Six deaths from the outbreak have been reported.The World Health Organization (WHO) office in Liberia and the WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville have sent a team of specialists to the affected area to investigate the situation and to support local health authorities and non-governmental organizations in their efforts to control the outbreak. The team includes a WHO expert virologist and a medical entomologist from the Pasteur Institute in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.
Hospital records indicate that the first case of the outbreak occurred in July and that new infections peaked at 102 cases in October, followed by an additional 17 cases thus far in November. While specimens for laboratory analysis are still in the process of being collected in an attempt to isolate the virus, all of the victims have jaundice and fever compatible with a diagnosis of yellow fever.
There is no cure for yellow fever, and up to 50 per cent of persons who are infected during outbreaks can die from the disease. The six deaths reported thus far in Liberia thus reflect a lower-than-expected death rate.
Investigations in the affected area of Liberia have found Aedes africanus and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to be abundant and breeding widespread. Both types of mosquitoes can carry the yellow fever virus, indicating a high risk for transmission of the disease in the cities.
The WHO and the Ministry of Health believe that Liberia's entire population of 2 million may therefore be at risk, and that urgent action should be taken to vaccinate the entire population. The civil war has caused large-scale population displacements both within the country and to and from the neighbouring States of Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone, making the potential risk of the disease spreading throughout the sub-region very high.
The WHO has sent 100,000 doses of vaccine and medical equipment to Liberia and remains on stand-by alert status to provide further support if necessary.
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