Majority of the deaths from a yellow fever outbreak in Angola that started late last year and claimed 158 lives already are occurring in the past month alone, World Health Organization said Friday.
Most of the victims were residents in the bustling capital of Luanda, which has seen an increase in malaria, cholera and chronic diarrhea partly due to deteriorated sanitation conditions.
“This is an urban pattern of outbreak of Yellow Fever and it is much more complicated to tackle and deal with,” Hernando Agudelo Ospina, the World Health Organization representative in Luanda, told Reuters.
“The possibility of spreading out to other provinces or even to the all country is much higher than if it had happened in a rural area.”
The yellow fever outbreak was first registered in Luanda in December and the disease has remained largely confined to the sprawling city and its suburban areas, home to some 6.5 million people.
The yellow fever virus is transmitted when a mosquito bites an infected monkey and then bites a human. Two types of mosquitoes, one of which is responsible for the Zika virus, can pass on the disease.
Fever, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and loss of appetite are among the symptoms related to yellow fever, which make it easy to confuse for malaria or other mosquito-borne illnesses. There is no treatment for the deadly disease, though patients can seek supportive care, according to CNN.
Luanda is however on the verge of a sanitation crisis which could further spread the disease.
Mounds of trash now line the streets, marketplaces and backyards across Luanda and its rundown suburbs.
