Yellow Fever

Abstract

Yellow fever is a hemorrhagic fever caused by the yellow fever virus, a positive-sense RNA virus belonging to the genus Flavivirus. The virus is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito, particularly A. aegypti, which reside largely in tropical cities of South America and Africa. Once the mosquito feeds on an infected person and becomes infective, it can transmit the virus for the remainder of its life and even pass it onto its larvae. Yellow fever originated in Africa, but was brought to the Americas during the Slave Trade. With no natural immunity in the American population, the virus ravaged the continents for many years. North America has not experienced an outbreak since 1905, but South America and Africa continue to have regular outbreaks despite widespread prevention and vaccination efforts. Written for Dr. Kjellerup's Microbiology and Immunology course, this review paper assembles from various source with special emphasis on the historical aspect taken from Irwin Sherman's 2007 book: Twelve Diseases that Changed Our World.