Yellow fever breaksout in the Congo

Last month the Congo

Republic confirmed a case

of yellow fever near its

border, which the Ministry

of Health has described

as “an emerging event of

epidemic proportions”.

The late 2015 outbreak

in the Congo and Angola

finally came to an end in

early 2016 after almost

1 000 cases had been

confirmed. This deadly

disease is transmitted

through the bite of

an infected day biting

species of mosquito.

Once a person is infected,

doctors can only treat the

symptoms, which include

fever, headaches, vomiting

and back pain and can

often be misdiagnosed as

malaria.

As there is no cure for the

disease, Albie explained

that this was the only

vaccine regulated by the

World Health Organisation.

He explained that, while it

used to require a booster

every 10 years, the vaccine

was now valid for life for

most people.

However, approximately

10% of people still lost

their immunity over time

so it was wise not to

discontinue.