There may be a global catastrophe from the spread of yellow fever

There are growing concerns that there may be a global catastrophe from the spread of yellow fever. Elsevier Health Sciences reported on May 23, 2016, the yellow fever epidemic is threatening to spread to China from Angola. This spread of yellow fever presents us with a global health threat.

The World Health Organization (WHO) convened an emergency committee meeting on May 19, 2016, in order to highlight the severity of the outbreak of yellow fever. There have been outbreaks in Angola, other African countries, and China. This has presented us with the first ever documented case of yellow fever in Asia. Although the yellow fever vaccine is extremely effective there are concerns at the WHO that there is a strong risk of epidemics in Asia and Africa due to outbreaks in unvaccinated populations.

As of May 19, 2016, there were 2420 suspected cases of yellow fever reported in Angola with 298 deaths. There were 736 laboratory confirmed cases out of these cases. There have been vaccination attempts in in Luanda, Huambo, and Benguela provinces but the circulation of the virus has persisted in some districts. A WHO expert has said that the actual figures may actually be 10-50 times more.

There is a large Chinese workforce in Angola and most of these Chinese workers are not vaccinated. This coupled with large volumes of people traveling via air to an environment which is conducive to transmission of yellow fever in Asia has created a situation which is historically unprecedented.

The lead author of this research paper, Sean Wasserman, MBChB, of the University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, says there is an alarming possibility of a yellow fever epidemic with a case fatality of up to 50 percent in a region which has a susceptible population of 2 billion people. To make matters worse there is a very limited infrastructure to respond effectively in this region.

This study has been published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. The present conditions of a large Chinese expatriate community working in Angola, the high volume of air travel which is being seen from Angola to Asia, a favorable ecology for the transmission of yellow fever, and a large population which is not immunized together present us with a serious health threat globally. It has been suggested that outbreak preparedness and planning should be prioritized. This should include enhanced surveillance, vaccination of all travelers, and the stockpiling of emergency vaccine.