Yellow Fever Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Yellow Fever - Essay Example It is similar to the â€Å"West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, and Japanese encephalitis virus† (CDC 2010, section ‘Yellow fever virus transmission’). The virus is spread by mosquitoes in tropical regions of South America and Africa (CDC 2010, PHAC 2010, PubMed Health 2009, WHO 1993, WHO 2011). It replicates inside the mosquito (WHO 1993) and after being bitten by an infected mosquito, symptoms usually occur within three to six days (CDC 2010, PubMed Health 2009, WHO 2011). There is no treatment of yellow fever, but the focus is on symptom management and vaccination (WHO 2011). Many difference species of the Haemogogus and Aedes mosquitoes are vectors or hosts that act as a vessel to spread the flavivirus that causes yellow fever (WHO 2011). It can be transferred between monkeys, between people, and from monkeys to humans (WHO 2011). Mosquitoes can be classified as domestic, wild, or semi-domestic and there are three main transmission cycles (CDC 2010, PHAC 2010, WHO 2011). In the first cycle known as the sylvatic yellow fever (or jungle), monkeys are infected by mosquitoes who then pass on the virus to mosquitoes that bite them.