Nationals of East African countries face a high risk of exposure to yellow fever, with the epidemic having already claimed its first East African victim, a Kenyan. 

The 31-year-old man breathed his last at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, last week where he had been taken for treatment by his family. He was returning to his home country after working and staying in Angola for 10 years.

Yellow fever has claimed some 178 lives in Angola alone since the first case was recorded in December last year. The outbreak has been described as the worst in the country in the last three decades.

As a result of the death of its national, the Kenyan Health Ministry has issued a countrywide yellow fever alert to all counties, hospitals and points of entry, including airports, for thorough screening to identify and isolate other possible cases. The move is mainly targeting travelers from yellow fever prone countries.

Both Kenya and the DR Congo have reported cases they suspected to originate from Angola. The DR Congo has so far reported at least eight deaths from yellow fever.

According to new guidelines issued by the Ugandan Health Ministry, travelers to Uganda from high risk yellow fever countries must produce a valid immunisation certificate against the disease to be allowed into the country.

Yellow fever is a viral hemorrhagic illness. It is transmitted to people after a mosquito becomes infected from biting an infected monkey and then the infected mosquito bites a person and infects him or her.

The World Health Organisation estimates that there are between 84,000 and 170,000 cases of yellow fever a year and as many as 60,000 of those cases are fatal.

Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Yellow fever can be confused as dengue fever, malaria or other illnesses.

There is no treatment for yellow fever. Those who are sick are given supportive care, which can include fluids, pain management and monitoring.

African countries currently considered as high risk yellow fever areas are; Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia and Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Southern Sudan, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda.

Nathan Mugume, the Head of Division, Health Communication Centre, at Rwanda Biomedical Centre, told The New Times yesterday, that: "We are carrying out vaccinations at the (Kigali International Airport) for people without valid Yellow Fever certificates.”

He added that surveillance systems have also been strengthened with instructions issued to different travelers on the precautions to take.

"We have the regular educational campaigns on prevention because we already know what causes yellow fever and what one can do to avoid contracting it. So basically we are telling people to get immunised.”

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