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Yellow fever is an acute and highly fatal viral disease.
There are two epidemiological types of the disease, urban and jungle
yellow fever.
The disease is
caused by the yellow fever virus, of the flavivirus group, which
causes both types of the disease, but the mosquito vectors and vertebrate
hosts are quite different.
There are two
disease
phases.
Yellow fever
can easily be confused with malaria, typhoid, rickettsial diseases,
haemorrhagic viral fevers (e.g. Lassa), arboviral infections, leptospirosis,
viral hepatitis and poisoning.
The mosquito is a true reservoir of the virus,
transmitting from year to
year. There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, but vaccines
are available for prevention.
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Introduction
