The World
Health Organization (WHO) today announced a massive vaccination
campaign against yellow fever in Liberia, where 29 cases have
recently been reported.
With an estimated
1.5 million people in Monrovia at risk if the disease is not contained,
WHO plans to intensify vaccination and surveillance in the affected
communities, immunizing some 150,000 people.
Liberia's
last vaccination campaign against yellow fever was conducted in
1999, but it was limited to a single refugee camp, and most of
those who benefited have left the area. The country conducted
a nation-wide campaign in 1995, "but coverage at that time
was poor, as the country was in a certain amount of turmoil,"
WHO expert Dr. C.E. Roth told the UN News Service. Any new outbreak
of the disease is potentially serious, she stressed, since there
are so many susceptible people in the area.
All cases
of the disease were found in Liberia's Grand Cape Mount County,
where the population lives mostly in small towns comprising 5,000-10,000
people. The road between that county and the capital, Monrovia,
is in good condition, and increased traffic raises the risk of
transmission.
Those infected
with yellow fever often fall ill with flu-like symptoms and then
appear to get better, according to Dr. Roth, "but in the
second week of illness this can be followed by severe liver disease,
jaundice and, in a significant proportion of cases, death."
The vaccination
campaign will be conducted in cooperation with Liberia's Ministry
of Health, with WHO providing the vaccine and syringes.
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