Re: Ivory Coast: Outbreak of yellow fever in Seguela Department: 9 deaths & many patients registered
Re: Ivory Coast: Outbreak of yellow fever in Seguela Department: 9 deaths & many patients registered
<TABLE id=apex_layout_271110100662109808 class=formlayout border=0 summary=""><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap align=right>
Archive Number</TD><TD noWrap align=left>20110105.0048</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>
Published Date</TD><TD noWrap align=left>05-JAN-2011</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>
Subject</TD><TD noWrap align=left>PRO/AH/EDR> Yellow fever - Africa (03): Cote d'Ivoire, central</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
YELLOW FEVER - AFRICA (03): COTE D'IVOIRE, CENTRAL
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
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http://www.isid.org>
Date: Wed 5 Jan 2010
Source: IRIN [edited]
<
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91530>
Unrest following Cote d'Ivoire's presidential election is blocking a
nationwide vaccination drive against yellow fever [YF], a fatal
mosquito-borne disease that is affecting people throughout the
country. In the past month, 11 people have died in the centre-north
departments of Seguela, Katiola, and Beoumi; 2 cases of yellow fever
have been confirmed, and there are a further 21 suspected cases in
those departments and in nearby Mankono, according to local health
workers and the World Health Organization (WHO). Health officials are
still investigating the suspected cases, some of which could be
dengue, WHO said.
A yellow fever immunization drive initially planned for the end of
November [2010] as part of a worldwide WHO and UN Children's Fund
initiative has been postponed twice due to the current political situation.
Rivals Alassane Ouattara and incumbent Laurent Gbagbo claim the
presidency and have formed governments. There have been violent
clashes, particularly in the west; in the commercial capital Abidjan
pro-Gbagbo, youth have attacked UN personnel and vehicles. The UN
says it recognizes Ouattara as president. "[The vaccination drive]
was set again for 10-15 Jan [2011], but now again it looks like that
won't be possible due to the insecurity," John Mulangu, WHO-Africa
emergency and humanitarian action adviser, told IRIN.
Nationwide campaigns imply that UN and local health workers go to
communities in teams over a period of days, but WHO workers said this
was currently not feasible. Another problem is that many district
health directors who travelled to Abidjan to vote have not made it
back to their posts because of insecurity on the roads and severely
limited bus services.
Yellow fever has no cure; it causes severe illness and kills about
half of its victims, mostly due to lack of treatment for symptoms
like dehydration. WHO says the single most important preventive
measure is vaccination.
WHO and local health officials told IRIN that people were being
vaccinated on a small scale but said it was critical to cover the
entire country. Coulibaly Seydou, Seguela health district director,
said health workers were able to vaccinate people in some affected
villages there on 26-28 Dec [2010]. "But given that yellow fever is
transmitted by mosquitoes, it spreads easily; it doesn't stop at a
village or district boundary," Coulibaly told IRIN. "It is important
that the vaccination campaign be conducted in all targeted regions of
the entire country," WHO's Mulangu said. "If we do not do this, we
might see a spread of the disease with high morbidity and high mortality."
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
[Other countries in the past have managed to arrange truce days
during civil wars in order to carry out mass vaccination against
epidemics. Perhaps the people with experience in negotiating such
truces could help to organize one in this situation. - Mod.JW]
[Prior to this report, the most recent YF outbreak was in July 2010
in Abidjan in the far south of Cote d'Ivoire, distant from the areas
of the reported cases in the central part of the country. This new
situation is a sad illustration of how political conflict leads to
insecurity and inability of the public health sector to function in
the face of a serious threat of epidemic YF spread. One hopes that
the political situation will stabilize quickly to permit the
vaccination campaign to move ahead before more cases spread. One
hopes that there will be an adequate supply of YF virus vaccine,
given the demand currently for vaccines to counter YF outbreaks in
Cameroon and northern Uganda.
Seguela, Katiola, and Beoumi can be located on the map of Cote
d'Ivoire in West Africa at
<
http://lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/ivory_coast_pol88.jpg>. The
HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Cote d'Ivoire can be
accessed at <
http://healthmap.org/promed/index.php?v=7.6,-5,5>. - Mod.TY]
[...]
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