yellow fever, acute infectious disease endemic in tropical Africa and many areas of South America. Epidemics have extended into subtropical and temperate regions during warm seasons. In 1878 a severe outbreak in the Mississippi Valley killed about 20,000; the last epidemic in the United States occurred in New Orleans in 1905. Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which breeds in stagnant water near human habitations. A form of the disease called sylvan yellow fever is transmitted in tropical jungles by other species of mosquitoes that live in trees.

At the end of the 19th cent., yellow fever was highly prevalent in the Caribbean, and a way of controlling it had to be found before construction of the Panama Canal Panama Canal, waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic (by way of the Caribbean Sea) and Pacific oceans, built by the United States (1904–14) on territory leased from the republic of Panama .
..... Click the link for more information. could be undertaken. In 1900 an American commission headed by Walter Reed Reed, Walter, 1851–1902, American army surgeon, b. Gloucester co., Va. In 1900 he was sent to Havana as head of an army commission to investigate an outbreak of yellow fever among American soldiers. Following the earlier suggestion by C. J.
..... Click the link for more information. and including James Carroll, Jesse Lazear, and Aristides Agramonte gathered in the U.S. Army's Camp Columbia in Cuba. Through their experiments they proved the theory of C. J. Finlay Finlay, Carlos Juan (kär`lōs hwän fēnlī), or Charles John Finlay
..... Click the link for more information. that yellow fever was a mosquito-borne infection. Within the next few years, W. C. Gorgas Gorgas, William Crawford, 1854–1920, American disease and sanitation expert, surgeon general of the United States, b. Mobile, Ala., grad. Bellevue Hospital Medical College, 1879. He served with the U.S. army medical corps after 1880.
..... Click the link for more information. , an army physician and sanitation expert, succeeded in controlling the disease in the Panama Canal Zone and other areas in that part of the world by mosquito-eradication measures. The later development of an immunizing vaccine and strict quarantine measures against ships, planes, and passengers coming from known or suspected yellow-fever areas further aided control of the disease.

Yellow fever begins suddenly after an incubation period of three to five days. In mild cases only fever and headache may be present. The severe form of the disease commences with fever, chills, bleeding into the skin, rapid heartbeat, headache, back pains, and extreme prostration. Nausea, vomiting, and constipation are common. Jaundice usually appears on the second or third day. After the third day the symptoms recede, only to return with increased severity in the final stage, during which there is a marked tendency to hemorrhage internally; the characteristic "coffee ground" vomitus contains blood. The patient then lapses into delirium and coma, often followed by death. During epidemics the fatality rate was often as high as 85%. Although the disease still occurs, it is usually confined to sporadic outbreaks.

Bibliography

See study by M. C. Crosby (2006).

yellow fever

Acute infectious tropical disease, sometimes occurring in temperate zones. Abrupt onset of headache, backache, fever, nausea, and vomiting is followed by either recovery with immunity or by higher fever, slow pulse, and vomiting of blood. Patients may die in a week. Jaundice is common (hence the name). One of the world's great plagues for 300 years, it is caused by a virus transmitted by several species of mosquitoes. Carlos Finlay suggested and Walter Reed proved this means of spread, leading to near elimination of the disease through mosquito control (see William Gorgas). Treatment consists of supportive care, particularly fever reduction. Control of mosquitoes near cities and live-virus vaccines—developed by Max Theiler (1899–1972), who won a 1951 Nobel Prize for his work—have made yellow fever completely preventable.

yellow fever

an acute infectious disease of tropical and subtropical climates, characterized by fever, haemorrhages, vomiting of blood, and jaundice: caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of a female mosquito of the species Aedes aegypti

yellow fever [′yel·ō ′fē·vər]

(medicine)

An acute, febrile, mosquito-borne viral disease characterized in severe cases by jaundice, albuminuria, and hemorrhage.

Yellow fever

An acute, febrile, mosquito-borne viral disease characterized in severe cases by jaundice, albuminuria, and hemorrhage. Inapparent infections also occur.

The agent is a flavivirus, an arbovirus of group B. The virus multiplies in mosquitoes, which remain infectious for life. After the mosquito ingests a virus-containing blood meal, an interval of 12–18 days (called the extrinsic incubation period) is required for it to become infectious. See Animal virus, Arboviral encephalitides

The virus enters the body through a mosquito bite and multiplies in lymph nodes, circulates in the blood, and localizes in the liver, spleen, kidney, bone marrow, and lymph glands. The severity of the disease and the major signs and symptoms which appear depend upon where the virus localizes and how much cell destruction occurs. The incubation period is 3–6 days. At the onset, the individual has fever, chills, headache, and backache, followed by nausea and vomiting. A short period of remission often follows. On about the fourth day, the period of intoxication begins with a slow pulse relative to a high fever and moderate jaundice. In severe cases, there are high levels of protein in the urine, and manifestations of bleeding appear; the vomit may be black with altered blood; and there is an abnormally low number of lymphocytes in the blood. When the disease progresses to the severe stage (black vomit and jaundice), the mortality rate is high. However, the infection may be mild and go unrecognized. Diagnosis is made by isolation of the virus from the serum obtained from an individual as early as possible in the disease, or by the rise in serum antibody. See Antibody, Complement-fixation test, Neutralization reaction (immunology)

There are two major epidemiological cycles of yellow fever: classical or urban epidemic yellow fever, and sylvan or jungle yellow fever. Urban yellow fever involves person-to-person transmission by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the Western Hemisphere and West Africa. This mosquito breeds in the accumulations of water that accompany human settlement. Jungle yellow fever is primarily a disease of monkeys. In South America and Africa, it is transmitted from monkey to monkey by arboreal mosquitoes (Haemagogus and Aedes species) that inhabit the moist forest canopy. The infection in animals ranges from severe to inapparent. Persons who come in contact with these mosquitoes in the forest can become infected. Jungle yellow fever may also occur when an infected monkey visits a human habitation and is bitten by A. aegypti, which then transmits the virus to a human.

Vigorous mosquito abatement programs have virtually eliminated urban yellow fever. However, with the speed of modern air travel, the threat of a yellow fever outbreak exists where A. aegypti is present. An excellent attenuated live-virus vaccine is available. See Vaccination