30 deaths from yellow fever in the south

Thirty people have died in an outbreak of yellow fever in southern Sudan, which has affected at least 80 people, the United Nations confirmed on Tuesday. It was earlier suspected that the yellow fever, which is a haemorrhagic virus, was Ebola fever. The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the diagnosis of yellow fever late last week, following two laboratory test results, respectively from South African and Kenya. Local health staff in the Imatong and Ikotos areas had initially reported 178 cases of the fever, but the figure had been revised downwards following an investigation by WHO officials, Ben Parker, the spokesman for the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, told IRIN. UN agencies and NGOs in the area are now working with local counterparts and the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission to stop the spread of the virus. A mass vaccination campaign is being planned for next week, with an initial 40,000 doses of vaccine coming from neighbouring Kenya. The initial focus will be on Imatong town, the epicentre of the outbreak, followed by Ikotos, which had only two cases to date. "We have received reports of some people fleeing from the Imatong area to Ikotos, which is a cause for concern," Parker said. Ikotos town has a camp for internally displaced people on its edge, and further supplies of vaccine are being ordered to cover the total population of 107,000 people in the two areas. Yellow fever can cause bleeding from the mouth, eyes, nose and stomach, and has an estimated mortality rate of about 30 percent. Death usually occurs within 10 and 14 days.