This disease which affects monkeys and humans was first symptomatically described in 1648 in Mexico (Yucatan half island). Its origin, however, is probably Africa and it came to America via slave transportation. The name of the fever refers to the yellow skin of infected people. Today this disease is found in Africa in countries between 15° north and 15° south of the equator, endangering about 500,000 million humans suffering from increasing infection rates. In South America, the disease is endemic in ten countries with low urban infection rates. In Asia no cases were found until today, although all basic criteria for a successful transmission are present: vector mosquitoes of the genus Aedes are present in great numbers as well as the tropical temperatures, low living and medicinal standards.
The agent of the disease is a 40–50 μm wide enveloped RNA-virus, belonging to the name giving Flaviruses (Latin: flavus= yellow, pole). These viruses enter monocytes, macrophages, dendritic...
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Further Reading
Barret AD, Teuwen DE (2009) Yellow fever vaccine – how does it work and why do rare cases of serious adverse events take place? Curr Opin Immunol 21:308–313
Staples JE, Monath TP (2008) Yellow fever: 100 years of discovery. JAMA 300:960–962
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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Yellow Fever. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_3445-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_3445-2
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