Faced with the return of epidemics in West Africa
January 10
Yellow fever is a serious viral disease, which manifests itself by yellowing of the skin and eyes (hence the name of the disease), dark urine, abdominal pain accompanied by vomiting and bleeding from the mouth, nose, eyes or stomach. It is transmitted by mosquito bites and is preventable by vaccination. For effective coverage of populations, the teams that will be deployed in the field will carry out vaccination and independent data monitoring.
Indeed, since the introduction of the yellow fever vaccine in 1987 and the first reactive campaign in 2022, Niger has been committed to the global strategy for the elimination of yellow fever epidemics for the period 2017-2026 known as EYE ( Elimination of Yellow Fever Epidemics in English). This aims to limit the risk of spread by protecting populations in endemic areas and travelers likely to spread the disease. This is why vaccination against yellow fever is compulsory for travelers to endemic areas.
This campaign is part of a national response which will cover other regions in the coming months. It follows the resurgence of yellow fever epidemic outbreaks in West Africa. Niger is among the 27 countries identified at high risk of the disease due to ecological data, low vaccination coverage and epidemiological surveillance.
The health authorities of Niger, in collaboration with health partners, plan to eliminate yellow fever by 2026, through these mass preventive campaigns, reactive vaccination campaigns to which are added the efforts made to through routine vaccination and catch-up sessions.
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