There may be disease-control challenges ahead
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has warned that Brazil yellow fever could spread and pose serious disease-control challenges.
In a Perspectives piece for the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr Fauci and his associate Dr Catharine Paules noted that the latest outbreak of yellow fever comes as Zika virus, which is spread by the same mosquito as yellow fever virus, continues to affect countries throughout the Americas.
In spite of an existing vaccine and extensive immunisation campaigns, along with effective mosquito control, localised outbreaks in parts of Africa and Central and South America account for an estimated 84,000 to 170,000 severe cases of disease, and between 29,000 and 60,000 deaths, annually.
According to Fauci and Paules, ‘early identification of cases and rapid implementation of public health management and prevention strategies, such as mosquito control and appropriate vaccination, are critical’ in preventing the world’s emergency vaccine stockpile reserve being exhausted.
The doctors also observed that, in an era of frequent international travel, an increase in domestic cases in Brazil has the potential to spread yellow fever to non-endemic areas and could pose serious disease-control challenges. They are urging clinicians, particularly those in the US and other places where yellow fever is uncommon, to inform themselves about yellow fever symptoms and to adopt a high index of suspicion for this diagnosis, particularly when examining travellers returning from affected regions.