Yellow fever epidemic has been declared in Congo

A yellow fever epidemic has been declared in three provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the capital Kinshasa.

The epidemic was declared after 67 cases of the disease were confirmed, with another 1,000 suspected cases being monitored.

Health Minister Felix Kabange said only seven of the proven cases were indigenous to the Central African country, while 58 were imported from Angola, where the outbreak began. A further two cases came from remote forested areas not linked to the current outbreak. Five people in total have died, Kabange added.

The current method for creating new vaccines, in chicken eggs, takes up to a year. Health officials are considering using smaller doses of the vaccine which provides temporary protection and could stave off a larger emergency.

There are fears that the virus, which like Zika is carried by mosquitoes but is considered more serious, could spread rapidly in the DRC’s densely-packed capital of Kinshasa, which has a population of 12 million and poorly-resourced and staffed hospitals.