"We have 10 suspected cases, with three confirmed," Siméon N’da, Health Ministry head of communications, told IRIN on 16 November. Health workers vaccinated people in and around affected villages at the weekend, according to N'da. He did not specify how many people were vaccinated and in what localities.
N'da said there had been no deaths from the mosquito-borne viral infection. Local taxi drivers told IRIN they transported the bodies of four teenagers from hospital in the region’s main city Odienné to their home village of Tron Touba for burial during the week of 9 November. Their families said they had died of an unknown illness.
Local health officials in Odienné would not comment.
Some 30,000 people worldwide die of yellow fever each year, of about 200,000 cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). No cure exists and 50 percent of infected people who cannot access treatment will die, according to WHO, which says vaccination is “the single most important preventive measure”.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions