A yellow fever outbreak has killed three people in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region.

Twelve others are being nursed at the hospital with the disease.

The Ministry of Health has issued an alert in that regard and said it is making efforts to contain the disease.

Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The "yellow" in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients.

Up to 50% of severely affected persons without treatment will die from yellow fever, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

There are an estimated 200 000 cases of yellow fever, causing 30 000 deaths, worldwide each year, with 90% occurring in Africa.

The virus is endemic in tropical areas of Africa and Latin America, with a combined population of over 900 million people.

The number of yellow fever cases has increased over the past two decades due to declining population immunity to infection, deforestation, urbanisation, population movements, and climate change.

There is no specific treatment for yellow fever. Treatment is symptomatic, aimed at reducing the symptoms for the comfort of the patient.

Vaccination is the most important preventive measure against yellow fever. The vaccine is safe, affordable, and highly effective, and a single dose of yellow fever vaccine is sufficient to confer sustained immunity and life-long protection against yellow fever disease, and a booster dose of yellow fever vaccine is not needed. The vaccine provides effective immunity within 30 days for 99% of persons vaccinated.

The yellow fever outbreak follows an outbreak of pneumococcal meningitis in December last year at Brohani, a town in the Brong Ahafo region. It killed eight people before it was brought under control, according to District Health Director for Tain, Dr Michael Rockson Adjei.

Several others affected by pneumococcal meningitis are on admission at various health facilities in the area. According to experts, the disease is contagious and “kills faster compared to Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM)”.