The World Health Organization says that an outbreak of yellow fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 21 people. The outbreak itself was first reported in the D.R.C.’s neighboring Angola late last year, and links have been found between Angola’s outbreak and the deaths in the D.R.C. The New York Times reports:
The organization said Monday 151 people had been affected by the disease from early January to 22 March.
A WHO statement said some of the cases were detected in a province bordering Angola and "were imported" from that country, where 1, 562 cases, including 225 deaths, have been reported.
The organization said Congo's health ministry has formed a committee to combat the disease, while travelers to Angola are targeted for vaccination. Yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes, most commonly the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same species that spreads the Zika virus.
Yellow fever is a virus that can cause bleeding, jaundice and kidney failure, It is spread by mosquitoes, usually the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same species that spreads the Zika virus.
It is endemic in tropical regions of Africa and South America.
A vaccine can prevent infection but there is no specific drug treatment for people who are infected.
Angola’s Health Minister Luís Gomes Sambo announced on Tuesday that about 2,000 more people will be joining the health sector in the near future to better serve the population. The increase cannot come soon enough -- the country is suffering its worst outbreak of yellow fever in three decades, with over 1,100 diagnosed since December and at least 178 dead. The mosquito-borne disease has already spread to 10 out of the country’s 18 provinces, and neighboring countries are on high alert.
There is no treatment for yellow fever, but there is a vaccine. Accordingly, the government is aiming to vaccinate the 6.5 million residents of the capital Luanda, where the epidemic began. To date, some 5.7 million people in Luanda have been vaccinated, but the World Health Organization’s emergency stockpile of the vaccine has now been exhausted.
