Uganda and Ethiopia Field Epidemiology Training Program Case studies in Applied epidemiology No. 001 - 815

WHO designated yellow fever as an endemic disease in Ethiopia in the early 1950s. Yellow fever, a zoonotic hemorrhagic fever disease (sylvatic and urban types), are endemic in Ethiopia due to its geographical location and climatic conditions favoring Aedes sp. mosquito. The mosquito vector were found to exist throughout the country up to 2,000 m in altitude. We conducted an outbreak investigation in Jink, a town surrounded by forest inhabited by many primates (monkeys). We hypothesized that yellow fever could be transmitted from the primates through the biting mosquito, based on the re-emergence and outbreak of zoonotic hemorrhagic fever after an absence of 50 years. An entomological survey was conducted for mosquito larvae by Entomologist from Ethiopian Public health Institute and a veterinary survey was conducted for primates by regional Veterinary experts, who joined the investigation, which shows that chain of infection was available.