6 May 2009 – On 15 April 2009, The Ministry of Health (MoH), Liberia reported one laboratory-confirmed case of yellow fever in Luyeama town, Zorzor District. The case was identified through regular yellow fever surveillance in Lofa County.
The index case was a 32 year-old man who presented with fever and jaundice which began on 28 February 2009. On 28 March, the patient went to the Tellewoyan Hospital in Voinjama City, Lofa County where the clinical diagnosis of yellow fever was made.
The case was laboratory-confirmed by the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal. During the outbreak investigation, 9 serum samples of suspected cases and “contacts” were collected. No additional yellow fever cases have been identified.
The MoH has planned to vaccinate the districts of Zorzor and Voinjama, with a target population of 96,169. The country has requested yellow fever vaccines from the GAVI funded Global Emergency Stockpile for Yellow Fever Vaccine, managed by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision for Yellow Fever Control (YF-ICG).
