During October 2 and December 30, 2010, a total of 190 suspected cases of yellow fever were reported from 10 districts in northern Uganda.Among them, 22 cases have been confirmed and 48 cases have died.Most cases were reported from the following districts: Abim, Agago and Kitgum.The genotype of the circulating yellow fever virus strain is found to be similar to that of East-African strain. This outbreak is the first yellow fever outbreak that occurred in Uganda since 1972.Suspected yellow fever cases have also been recently reported from southern region of neighboring Sudan.
Yellow fever is an acute infectious viral disease that is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and jungle mosquitoes.The incubation period is usually 3-6 days.About 15% of cases develop symptoms, including fever, headache, aching muscles, nausea, vomiting, jaundice and bleeding. As the disease progresses, liver, kidney and heart may be affected, and death may result.
Yellow fever is endemic in tropical areas of Africa and Latin America, including Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameron, Uganda, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.

Taiwan CDC advises travelers travelling to yellow fever-endemic areas to visit the outpatient travel clinic prior to their trip and complete their yellow fever vaccination at least 10 days before entering yellow fever-endemic areas.Some countries require certificate of yellow fever vaccination for entry.During the trip, avoid mosquito bites, wear light-colored clothing, long sleeves and long pants and apply officially approved mosquito repellent to exposed parts of the body.If suspected symptoms develop after returning home, please seek immediate medical assistance and inform the doctor of the recent travel and contact history.

For any questions or further information on international outbreaks, please call the toll-free Communicable Disease Case Reporting and Consultation Hotline 1922, or visit the Taiwan CDC’s website: http://www.cdc.gov.tw.