The National Service for Food Safety and Quality (Senasa) is providing recommendations for preventing yellow fever in the population living in or visiting areas near the border with Brazil, given evidence of the virus circulating in the south of the neighboring country.
The affected area in Brazil, where human cases have been detected and dead monkeys with confirmed yellow fever have been found, is located about 500 km from the border with the Argentine province of Misiones.
Yellow fever is a viral disease that affects people and is transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which breeds in containers containing clean, stagnant water. The initial symptoms are similar to those of the flu: fever, headache, vomiting and muscle aches. As the disease progresses, the gums bleed, the urine also contains blood and the patient may suffer from jaundice (yellowing of the skin).
important measure
The most important preventive measure is vaccination in risk areas and for those traveling to regions where the disease is present. For more information on this subject, please visit the website of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Nation: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/fiebreamarilla
The risk of transmission in urban areas can be minimized through an effective vector control strategy.
It is recommended to use mosquito nets, repellent coils or tablets in homes, repellents on exposed skin and clothing with applications every three hours, wear long sleeves and pants if doing outdoor activities, as well as eliminate all containers containing water – both inside and around homes – where mosquitoes can breed.
Epidemiological surveillance of yellow fever should be aimed at early detection of the circulation of the virus in order to adopt appropriate control measures in a timely manner to prevent new cases, prevent the progression of outbreaks and avoid the re-urbanization of the disease.
Clarification
Since infection of apes with the yellow fever virus produces a disease similar to that of humans, with high mortality rates, the detection of sick howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) allows for early warning of the circulation of the virus, and therefore represents an important risk indicator that can be used as a trigger for prevention and control actions.
It is important to note that no monkey deaths have been reported in Argentina so far and that they do not transmit the disease directly to people (the virus must pass through a vector, which is the mosquito).
Contact with tissues from an infected monkey should be avoided, as they may represent a route of infection. Therefore, necropsies of these animals should only be performed by trained personnel, with appropriate protective measures.
Senasa asks the population to completely reject the killing of monkeys, since they are not vectors of the disease, and to immediately inform the health authorities of the region or the National Institute of Tropical Medicine of the possible discovery of these dead or sick animals, and not to manipulate them.
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