It may soon be harder to cross the border into any East African country
without a yellow fever certificate if a new policy is adopted. PHOTO |
FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
It may soon be harder to cross the border into any East African
country without a yellow fever certificate if a new policy to
reintroduce the stringent measures of old is adopted.
According
to the new guidelines, East Africans planning to go to any of the six
countries within the EAC will be required to show proof that they have
been vaccinated against yellow fever 10 days before their actual travel
date.
This, therefore, means that
anyone without a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate will be
denied entry to either Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi or
Sudan, explained Dr Michael Katende, the acting head of the health
department at the East African Community Secretariat in Arusha.
“We
continue to have our surveillance system in place, and shall continue
to insist on the yellow fever certificate especially if you are coming
from a country which has been known to have few outbreaks,” said Dr
Katende.
The request for the
certificates and insistence on using the vaccination is for protection,
Dr Katende said, was prompted by the recent increased in outbreaks in
the region.
“We are also alive to the
fact that by virtue of the EAC region bordering DRC, a country with a
huge forest cover and biodiversity, we need to heighten our
surveillance,” he said.
Yellow fever is a viral infection spread by a
type of mosquito. The infection is most common in Africa and South
America, affecting travellers to and residents of those areas.
ROUTINE SURVEILLANCE
Two
weeks ago, Ugandan Health Ministry declared a yellow fever outbreak
after laboratory test confirmed cases were reported from Koboko and
Masaka districts, located in the northern and central regions of the
country, according to a bulletin from the WHO African regional office.
Officials
identified two cases of yellow fever in March, when routine
surveillance showed the virus in an 80-year-old woman and a 10-year-old
girl, neither of whom had been vaccinated against it.
“On
May 14, the Ministry of Health notified WHO of a yellow fever outbreak
in the Koboko and Masaka districts located in the Northern and Central
region of the country respectively. The outbreak was declared in-country
on May 6 following laboratory confirmations from the regional yellow
fever reference laboratory, the Uganda Virus Research Institute,” says
the WHO status report.
In mild cases,
yellow fever causes a fever, headache, nausea and vomiting. But it can
become more serious, causing heart, liver and kidney problems along with
bleeding (haemorrhaging). Up to 50 per cent of people with the
more-severe form of yellow fever die of the disease.
DEADLY AND MOSQUITO-BORNE
Although
there is no specific treatment for yellow fever, getting vaccinated
before travelling to an area in which the virus is known to exist can
protect you from the disease.
Rapid
response teams were sent to the villages of both patients and found an
additional seven cases of yellow fever, and a “substantial population of
unvaccinated individuals due to immigration and missing the yellow
fever reactive vaccination campaign, which was conducted in 2016.”
“Although
the occurrences are on and off, we still have outbreaks of the disease.
We already have enough outbreaks within East Africa, prompting us to
maintain their surveillance,” added Dr Katende.
The region has been on high alert since 2016 when there was an outbreak in Angola.
Last
year, the disease seemed to get inches closer after the deadly
mosquito-borne disease killed 10 people in southwestern Ethiopia forcing
the World Health Organisation to release more than a million doses of
yellow fever vaccine from its emergency stockpile.
In
Africa, Tanzania and South Africa require a valid yellow fever
certificate from all citizens and non-citizens (over one year of age)
travelling from a yellow fever risk country.
In
South Africa, if a traveller is unable to produce a valid yellow fever
vaccination certificate at the point of entry, entry is denied and the
traveller is placed under quarantine until they are vaccinated.
In
East Africa, only Tanzania demands proof of vaccination against yellow
fever from visitors upon arrival at the airport. Uganda, however,
tightened its rules in 2016 following a WHO recommendation that the
country review its yellow fever vaccination policy, and that people from
high-risk countries show proof of vaccination.
Kenya followed suit by putting the country on high alert.
Vaccination
certificates are routinely checked at points of entry for travellers
arriving from countries designated as high risk for yellow fever
transmission. Persons who have been in transit exceeding 12 hours
through the airport of a country with high risk of yellow fever
transmission are also required to produce proof of vaccination upon
arrival.
Travellers with an exemption
certificate due to medical reasons will be allowed entry, but will be
placed under quarantine and/or will be required to report any fever or
other symptoms to health authorities.
The
WHO guidelines require countries at risk of yellow fever to obtain
vaccination certificates from individuals travelling from areas
determined by the WHO to be at risk; it also recommends disinfecting
aircraft, ships, tyre-casing consignments and other modes of
transportation coming from a risk area.
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