Yellow Fever—More a Policy and Planning Problem than a Biological One

摘要

To the Editor: The recent and ongoing outbreak (epidemic) of yellow fever (YF) in Angola is cause for concern, not only in West Africa, but also in contiguous and other nearby countries (1). As of June 21, 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported 3,137 cases (847 laboratory-confirmed) and 350 deaths (2), but at the present time, it is not cause for panic or for extravagant claims of an “impending global health threat” (3). As long as the Angola Ministry of Health reports that there have been <400 deaths from YF since it declared the outbreak 4 months ago, and because there is an effective vaccine against this disease, it is difficult to understand dire warnings of a global threat.