Fears spread over global yellow fever outbreak

The Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday began an emergency vaccination program to combat the worst yellow fever outbreak in decades, as concerns rise over the possibility of a global spread.

Congo’s government and the World Health Organization are teaming up with Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, and several other international aid groups. They plan to vaccinate about 10.5 million people during the next 10 days in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, and the region between the capital and the Angolan border.

The yellow fever outbreak began in Angola’s capital, Luanda, in February. It already has killed nearly 500 people in Congo and Angola, and has left thousands of other suspected cases. Save the Children on Tuesday warned the epidemic is on the brink of spreading to the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

“There is no known cure for yellow fever and it could go global,” Heather Kerr, Save the Children’s country director for Congo, said in a statement. “The mass vaccination campaign in Kinshasa needs to take place now so that we can try and stop the yellow fever from spreading by land and air to more cities in Africa and across the world.”

The mosquito-borne virus has no known cure, although it is easily prevented by vaccines. But the latest inoculation campaign is struggling with limited vaccine supplies, forcing aid groups to use one-fifth of the standard dose, which will offer protection for only one year. International health officials predicted the shortage of millions of doses after mismanagement marred the initial response to the epidemic. Angola failed to account for more than one million doses of vaccines sent to the country. In another instance, UN officials sent vaccines without syringes.

“We could have prevented this from happening,” said Amanda McClelland, a senior emergency official at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Unlike Ebola, yellow fever can be controlled, and global agencies should have reacted faster, McClelland said.

Doctors Without Borders said it is organizing some 100 teams in three health zones in Kinshasa. Such wide-scale vaccinations will require a high level of alertness on its part, the group said.

“This campaign is an essential step to containing the spread of the outbreak, but vigilance will remain crucial in the upcoming months,” Axelle Rose, the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said in a written statement.