Description of the situation
22 December 1998
Disease Outbreak Reported
Two yellow fever cases have been reported in Burkina Faso, one of which has been confirmed. Both cases occurred in a village in Batie District, Gaoua Region in the south of the country near the border with Côte d'Ivoire. The cases were one adult male of 35 years and a 14 year old boy of the same family. The adult case had onset on 18 November and died on 24 November before a blood sample could be taken. The boy had onset on 29 November, was hospitalized on 4 December and is now improving. The Centre Muraz in Bobo Dioulasso tested serum from the boy and reported that it was positive for IgM yellow fever antibody. The Ministry of Health has a stock of approximately 200,000 doses of yellow fever vaccine, of which 30,000 have been sent to the region for an emergency vaccination campaign.Yellow fever was last reported in Burkina Faso in the early 1980's when a large outbreak occurred in 1983.