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Friday November 11, 2011
Local News

Health officers warn of yellow fever outbreak


From NESTORY NGWEGA in Tanga, 10th November 2011 @ 18:45,

TANZANIA is in the danger of outbreak of yellow fever epidemic as many people are reportedly entering the country with fake immunisation cards, health officers have revealed.

The Horohoro Border Health Officer In-charge, Dr Aggrey Mshana, told the 'Daily News' on Thursday that many passengers crossing the border have not undertaken yellow fever vaccination as the law provides for.

"We normally check-up all passengers .. but what we have discovered is that many have been cheating by showing us forged vaccination cards..so far we have already impounded 356 forged cards, out of them 150 were issued at Mnazi Mmoja Health Office in Dar es Salaam and the rest issued in Mombasa, Kenya," he said.

He said as health officers, their key roles at the border is to make sure that diseases like yellow fever are not imported into the country and this would only be possible by tightening security and regulations concerning health matters.

He said when a passenger is caught with a fake vaccination card, he or she would be vaccinated at the border otherwise he or she could not be allowed to enter the country.

Mr Mshana said as an in-charge of health matters at the border, he has already reported the matter to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare so that it takes further action to curb the situation.

"I reported the matter to my bosses and in fact they have started to take action including reviewing the cards by putting marks that will be difficult to forge," he said.

Yellow fever is an acute infectious tropical disease, sometimes occurring in temperate zones.

It is characterised by abrupt onset of headache, backache, fever, nausea and vomiting, followed by high fever, slow pulse and vomiting of blood.

Patients may die in a week. Jaundice is common (hence the name). It has been one of the world's great plagues for 300 years and caused by a virus transmitted by several species of mosquitoes.

Treatment consists of supportive care, particularly fever reduction. Control of mosquitoes near cities and live-virus vaccines - developed by Max Theiler (1899 - 1972), who won a 1951 Nobel Prize for his work that made yellow fever completely preventable.