South Sudan with support from partners launched a reactive yellow fever vaccination campaign in Sakure area of Nzara County in Gbudue State.
According to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, the vaccination drive aims to vaccinate 19, 578 individuals aged 9 months to 65 years against yellow fever.
It did not specify when the campaign would end.
The vaccination campaign, the UN agency said, follows the declaration of a yellow fever outbreak on 29 November 2018, where a total of three laboratories confirmed cases with no deaths have been reported after investigations were carried out in Sakure payam.
“The reactive YF vaccination is part of the global strategy to Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) by 2026,” said Dr Olushayo Olu, WHO Representative for South Sudan.
“It serves to protect high-risk populations against the YF virus in the immediate term and will serve as a bridge towards the introduction of yellow fever vaccine into the routine immunization system in the long term,” he explained.
Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The "yellow" in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients.
Symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. A small proportion of patients who contract the virus develop severe symptoms and approximately half of those die within 7 to 10 days.
The vaccination drive in the area of Sakure was launched by the National Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.
South Sudan last experienced a yellow fever outbreak in May 2003, in Imatong region of Torit County, with a total of 178 cases with 27 deaths in Imatong and Ikotos areas.