Prime
Government declares Uganda yellow fever free
Prof Anthony Mbonye, Ag Director General of Health Services said there was no evidence of any active yellow fever transmission. PHOTO BY ALEX ESAGALA
Kampala. The ministry of health has confirmed containment of yellow fever in the country following a successful vaccination campaign in the affected areas.
While addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday, Professor Anthony Mbonye, the Acting Director of General Health Services said there was no evidence of any active yellow fever transmission between June 1 to 30, this year and therefore the country was free from the fever.
“No new cases of yellow fever have been confirmed. The Public Health Emergency Operations Centres (PHEOC) coordinated a one month enhance yellow fever surveillance in seventeen districts surrounding Masaka, Rukungiri and Kalangala but there was no evidence of yellow fever transmission,” Prof Mbonye said.
Among the investigated districts that are surrounding areas with confirmed cases included Bukomansimbi, Kalungu, Lwengo, Rakai, Lyantonde, Sembabule, Kiruhura, Mbarara, Mitooma, Sheema, Bushenyi , Rubirizi, Ntungamo, Buhweju, Isingiro, Kabale and Kanungu.
Yellow fever broke out in March 2016 in Masaka with the cases from a single family that had presented to Masaka Referral Hospital with high grade fever that was non responsive to anti-malarial treatment associated with signs of convulsions and unconsciousness.
This is a tropical virus disease that affects kidneys and liver. It is transmitted by mosquitoes.
After the outbreak of the fever, the Ministry of Health issued a travel advisory asking travellers from high risk countries to present their immunisation certificates at Entebbe International Airport as one of the ways to control the spread of the disease in the country.
Prof Mbonye asserted that out of 65 suspected yellow fever cases in March, seven cases were confirmed, five of them from Masaka, one from Rukungiri and another from Kalangala. However three people were confirmed dead after the outbreak.
According to the Ministry, surveillance efforts are still ongoing at the operation centres to ensure that the risks of importation of yellow fever through international travel are minimized.
