Côte d'Ivoire: First urban yellow fever epidemic in over a decade
In September 2001, yellow fever cases were confirmed in five of the ten communes in Abidjan; suspected cases were also reported elsewhere. Urban yellow fever, although very rare, can spread extremely rapidly among a dense urban population, causing many thousands of deaths and very serious humanitarian consequences. Over 3.5 million people live in Abidjan – the commercial capital of Cote d’Ivoire.
WHO, working closely with UNICEF, coordinated the international response team with partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network. An Operations Centre was established at the WHO office in Abidjan to coordinate activities in epidemiology, the immunization campaign, and vector control. Vaccines and safe injection equipment were made available through the yellow fever sub-group of the International Coordinating Group for Emergency Vaccine Provision.
The mass campaign immunized 2.9 million persons over a 10 day period. See the reports in Disease Outbreak News for more details.