LUANDA, Angola: Fifty-one people have now died in a yellow fever outbreak in Angola, less than two months after it started spreading in the capital, the national director of health said.
Health experts say the outbreak has been exacerbated by a breakdown in sanitation services and rubbish collection in Luanda and other cities, leading to an increase in the mosquitoes that carry the disease.
A total of 240 people were now infected, the southern African country's top health civil servant Adelaide de Carvalho told a forum over the weekend. More than 450,000 people had been vaccinated in the capital, out of a target of nearly 1.6 million, she added.
City authorities have slashed their budget for rubbish collection to cope with a budget crisis, leaving piles of waste building up in poorer suburbs including Viana, where the first case of yellow fever was reported in late December.
There has also been an increase in malaria, cholera and chronic diarrhoea, health officials say.
Many sanitation contractors say they have not been paid, or are struggling to import equipment because of foreign exchange shortages.
Angola relies on crude exports for around 95 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings and a 70 percent decline in oil prices since mid-2014 has hobbled Africa's third largest economy, sending the kwanza currency plummeting.
Yellow fever symptoms include severe headache, nausea, vomiting and fatigue, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health experts say the outbreak has been exacerbated by a breakdown in sanitation services and rubbish collection in Luanda and other cities, leading to an increase in the mosquitoes that carry the disease.
A total of 240 people were now infected, the southern African country's top health civil servant Adelaide de Carvalho told a forum over the weekend. More than 450,000 people had been vaccinated in the capital, out of a target of nearly 1.6 million, she added.
There has also been an increase in malaria, cholera and chronic diarrhoea, health officials say.
Advertisement
Angola relies on crude exports for around 95 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings and a 70 percent decline in oil prices since mid-2014 has hobbled Africa's third largest economy, sending the kwanza currency plummeting.
Advertisement
© Thomson Reuters 2016
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Angola's Yellow Fever Deaths Rises To 158: WHO Yellow Fever Death Toll Rises To 125 In Angola Parents Gave Names Of Interns, Doctors To CBI In Kolkata Horror: Sources How Extreme Weather Is Leading To Rise In Child Marriages In Pakistan Who Is Jasveen Sangha, "Ketamine Queen" Charged With Matthew Perry's Death Two Sisters Returning From Court Run Over By Car In UP: Cops India Sends 1,400 kg Anti-Cancer Drugs To Syria In Humanitarian Assistance Police Arrest Suspect In Bihar Dalit Girl Kidnapping, Murder Case Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.