Yellow Fever
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_fever
Yellow fever has the highest lethality rate of any mosquito-borne disease. About 15% of infected individuals will develop severe symptoms, and 30–60% of those will die—bringing the overall fatality rate to approximately 5–10% (Simon, 2023).
Yellow fever is caused by a Flavivirus species (Gershman, 2024) and is transmitted by mosquitoes of the species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Winegard, 2019).
The disease typically begins with fever, muscle pain, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting, which usually last 3 to 4 days (World Health Organization, 2023). In about 15% of cases, the infection progresses to a severe stage, often after a brief period of recovery. During this stage, the virus targets major organs, especially the liver, leading to symptoms such as high fever, jaundice, bleeding, shock, and organ failure, which can result in death (CDC, 2024).
Yellow fever was introduced into the Amazon region through the transatlantic slave trade, alongside the spread of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes (Sokol, 2023). Today, deforestation contributes to its spread by creating favorable conditions for mosquito vectors, especially in fragmented forests and peri-urban areas (Wilk-da-Silva, 2023).
The most effective tool we have against yellow fever is the vaccine, which is 99% effective at preventing infection 30 days after administration (World Health Organization, 2023).
References:
Simon, Leslie V. Hashmi, Muhammed F. Torp, Klaus D. (August 7, 2023) Yellow Fever National Library of Medicine
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470425/
Gershman, Mark, Staples. J Erin. (2024) Yellow Fever Center for Disease Control and Prevention
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2024/infections-diseases/yellow-fever
Wingard, Timothy C. (2019) The Mosquito A Human History of our Deadliest Predator Dutton
(May 31, 2023) Yellow Fever World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/yellow-fever
(May 15, 2024) Yellow Fever Virus Center for Disease Control and Prevention
https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-fever/symptoms-diagnosis-treatment/index.html
Sokol, Joshua. (March 27, 2023) Slave trade records help reveal when first yellow fever mosquitoes bit humans Aedes aegypti may have developed a taste for humans at the birth of the Saharan desert Science
Wilk-da-Silva, Ramon. Prist, Paula Ribeiro. Medeiros-Sausa, Antonio Ralph. Laporta, Gabreil Zorello. Mucci, Luis Filipe. Marreli, Mauro Toledo. (September 2023) The role of forest fragmentation in yellow fever virus dispersal Acta Tropica Volume 245