Angola's Yellow Fever Death Toll Rises To 158 — WHO; Yellow Fever Concerns At Angola Children's Hospital

Aedes aegypti mosquitos carry yellow fever and are found throughout tropical Africa and parts of South America. (SPL)

A yellow fever outbreak in Angola that began late last year has killed 158 people, up from 50 a month ago, as deaths from the disease transmitted by mosquitoes accelerate, a World Health Organization official said on Friday.

Reuters/BBC report continues:

There has also been an increase in malaria, cholera and chronic diarrhoea in Luanda and other cities, partly due to a breakdown in sanitation services and rubbish collection, health officials say.

City authorities have slashed their budget for rubbish collection to cope with a budget crisis, leaving piles of waste building up in poorer suburbs including Viana, where the first case of yellow fever was reported in late December.

"This is an urban pattern of outbreak of Yellow Fever and it is much more complicated to tackle and deal with," said Hernando Agudelo Ospina, the WHO representative in Luanda.

"The possibility of spreading out to other provinces or even to the all country is much higher than if it had happened in a rural area."

Meanwhile as at Friday, the head of the Luanda paediatrics hospital, Mateus Campos, said 27 children died there on Monday alone, with many suspected cases turning up each day.

Authorities launched a mass vaccination campaign in February and the government urged residents to sterilize stagnant water before drinking it.

The disease was mainly confined to Luanda and its suburban areas where the outbreak was first registered, he said.

Angola relies on crude exports for around 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings and a sharp decline in oil prices since mid-2014 has hobbled Africa's second biggest oil exporter, sending the kwanza currency plummeting and necessitated deep cuts in public spending.