Yellow fever outbreak 'serious public health event,' WHO says
From cbc.ca
he outbreak of yellow fever in central Africa is serious situation that needs to be controlled better, the World Health Organization says.
Yellow fever is named after the jaundice that affects some patients.
Since December, there have been 2,267 suspected cases in Angola and 296 deaths, according to the WHO.
In this outbreak, the infection is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also transmits Zika and dengue viruses.
In Angola, the fear is the outbreak, centred in Luanda, will continue to spread. Travellers from Angola have already brought cases to Congo, China and Kenya.
"The urban yellow fever outbreaks in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a serious public health event which warrants intensified national action and enhanced international support," the World Health Organization's emergency committee said Thursday.
WHO's director-general accepted the group's assessment that the event currently falls short of a global health emergency.
Read more here.