By Teddy Cambosa
A yellow fever outbreak has been recorded in the African nation of Guinea, a report from the World Health Organization shows.
Image/CIA
The data, collected from November 6 and December 15 this year, reported a total of 52 suspected cases, including 14 deaths. Out of these numbers, a total of 50 cases were reported from the health district of Koundara in north-west Guinea, one from the health district of Dubreka (near Conakry, in the south-west) and one from the health district of Kouroussa.
Further analysis done by the Nongo, Conakry Laboratory of Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers shows that 10 of the cases were Immunoglobulin M positive, 8 were from unvaccinated suspect cases from Koundara, 1 was from Dubreka, and 1 from Kouroussa.
Another testing done by the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) in Senegal similarly found that 8 samples from Koundara had signals positive for yellow fever.
In response to the outbreak, the Koundara Health District Public Health Emergency Operation Center set up a response coordinated by the Ministry of Health, which includes services such as outbreak investigation, active case finding, initial reactive vaccination around suspected yellow fever cases, clinical management, vector control, risk communication and community engagement.
The African nation remains in the list of 27 countries designated by Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics Global Strategy (EYE) as a “high risk endemic country” for yellow fever cases.
Teddy Cambosa is a graduating BS Biology student and a former campus journalist at Batangas State University. He is also currently writing for MARKETECH APAC, a small APAC-focused marketing news site.
