More yellow fever cases reported in Sudan states

Ten people died and another 36 are infected with yellow fever in South and West Kordofan states. The numbers, provided by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation were measured between 3 and 10 November.To date, suspected cases of the disease have been registered in 10 localities in South and West Kordofan. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest news bulletin that the case fatality rate of the disease is now 27.8 per cent.A vaccination campaign targeting 100,000 people started in four out of the ten affected localities across the two states. These include South Kordofan’s Kadugli and Reif Ashargi localities and West Kordofan’s Lagawa and Keilak localities.As of 14 November, some 21,000 people have been vaccinated in Keilak and Lagawa localities. Vaccinations for children under ten years of age are ongoing in Kadugli and Reif Asharqi localities.The Ministry of Health is ready to lead vaccination efforts in the remaining affected localities across South and West Kordofan. The schedule for the campaign will depend largely on the reconfirmation of the yellow-fever diagnosis.Meanwhile, health education campaigns are also underway in South and West Kordofan through local radio stations, schools and mosques as preventative measures. The communicable disease surveillance system has been strengthened in other states, including White Nile, Gezira, Kassala, Gedaref and Khartoum, OCHA reports.Late last year, there was an outbreak of yellow fever in Darfur region, in what the WHO termed “Africa’s worst in decades”. The total number of suspected yellow fever cases has reached 849, including 171 deaths (case fatality rate 20.1 per cent). A three-phase vaccination campaign was conducted and about five million people were vaccinated in the five states of Darfur.File photo from last year’s yellow fever outbreak (WHO/C. Banluta)Related: Ten deaths from yellow fever in Sudan: WHO (17 November 2013)