Yellow fever

Yellow fever (also called yellow jack, black vomit or sometimes American Plague) is an acute viral disease. It is still an important cause of hemorrhagic illness in several African and South American countries despite existence of an effective vaccine. In the past it was a source of several devastating epidemics. As of 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that yellow fever causes 200,000 illnesses and 30,000 deaths every year in unvaccinated populations.

Prevention

A vaccine for yellow fever was developed which gives a 10-year+ immunity from the disease and effectively protects people traveling to the affected areas whilst being a means to control the disease at the same time. Insecticides, protective clothing and screening of houses are helpful but not always enough. In affected areas mosquito control methods have proved effective in decreasing the number of cases.

Related Topics:
Vaccine - Insecticide - Mosquito control

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Public health

Yellow fever is one of the few diseases where some countries have a legal requirement that travellers to an endemic area require vaccination. These countries also usually have regulations requiring quarantine for people who arrive from yellow fever endemic areas who do not provide evidence of their having being vaccinated against yellow fever. This is because one of the vectors for transmission of yellow fever, the Aedes mosquito, exists in other tropical parts of the world (which are not endemic for yellow fever) and an outbreak could potentially erupt if the disease is inadvertently brought in.

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