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November 21, 2013 (JUBA) – An outbreak of Yellow fever disease has been reported on South Sudan areas, which border Sudan, humanitarian partners operating in the new nation said.

At least 40 suspected cases of the disease were reportedly recorded between 3 October and 17 November, with 10 associated deaths in Sudan’s South and West Kordofan states.

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease reportedly transmitted by infected mosquitoes. “The case fatality rate is 25 per cent”, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in its weekly report.

“In response to the disease, a vaccination campaign was launched on 29 October targeting 100,000 people in South and West Kordofan”, it added.

Up to 80,000 people, OCHA said, have since been vaccinated, while a series of health education campaigns will soon be launched on radio stations, schools and mosques to sensitise the population.

“In South Sudan, surveillance has been enhanced and strengthened in the border areas, including in Maban and Yida refugee settlements, which host refugees from the affected areas of Sudan”, it stressed, adding that, “No suspected cases have so far been reported in South Sudan”.

Yellow fever, according to OCHA, was last recorded in South Sudan 10 years ago, when178 people were infected in its Eastern Equatoria state.
(ST)