Yellow Fever Outbreak in Nimba Confirmed

from All Africa

The Inquirer (Monrovia)

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has declared an outbreak of yellow fever after a case was confirmed from Nimba County on March 28, 2008.

A health Ministry release said as a response to contain the outbreak and prevent further spread of the disease, a mass yellow fever campaign would be conducted starting April 21, 2008 in the two high risk counties of Nimba and Grand Gedeh.

The campaign will first target Tappita and Sacleapia Districts of Nimba County and later scaled up to cover the rest of the districts in both Counties.

The two counties according to the release are being targeted because, the victim of the first confirmed case had traveled and had stayed briefly in Putu District, Grand Gedeh County and the repeated occurrence of yellow fever outbreaks especially in Nimba County.

Findings from field investigations by the Ministry of Health with support of the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted from 28-31 March 2008 revealed that the mode of transmission was monkey-mosquito-man.

Liberia is prone to outbreaks of yellow fever with the last one occurring in 2004, Nimba county and during which one case was confirmed.

It is to be noted that Liberia lies on the Yellow Fever belt of West African countries, where urban outbreaks of yellow fever have been reported over the past years.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and its partners WHO, UNICEF, ECHO, UNMIL, MSF International are working to curtail the outbreak.

In a related development, Liberia will on Friday, April 25 join the rest of the world to commemorate World Malaria Day.

World Malaria Day was established and approved at the 60th World Health Assembly in March 2007. It replaces "Africa Malaria Day" which has been commemorated every year since 2001 on April 25.

Henceforth, April 25 will now be celebrated annually as World Malaria Day to provide education and understanding of malaria as a global scourge that is preventable and a disease that is curable.

Africa Malaria Day is a day that was set aside by African governments committed to rolling back malaria and meeting the United Nations malaria-related Millennium Development Goals.

However, member states of the World Health Organization agreed that greater awareness is needed and expressed hope that the establishment of World Malaria Day would mobilize communities across the world to get involved in the fight against the disease. The first World Malaria Day is being held under the theme: "Malaria-a disease without borders".

The theme emphasizes the need for global collaboration in the fight against malaria, including the need for cross-border strategies, well-documented good practice and coordinated action at all levels, international, regional, national and local.

In Liberia the commemoration of World Malaria Day commences on Monday, April 21 with a week-long community awareness activities targeting five communities in Monrovia. The communities are: Soniwein, New Kru Town, West Point, Samuel K. Doe Community and the Rock Spring Valley, a community located behind the Health Ministry.

The National Malaria Control Program and its partners have planned cultural performances, quizzing, and a week-long media campaign to raise the needed awareness on the importance of mosquito nets used, IPT used during pregnancy and an early treatment-seeking behavior.