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Yellow Fever in China (Ex Angola) (Update)

25 Apr 2016

Between 4 and 12 April 2016, the health authorities of China notified the World Health Organisation of 2 further imported cases of yellow fever (YF). To date, a total of 11 laboratory-confirmed YF cases imported from Angola have been reported in China.

The tenth case is an 18-year-old male from Fujian Province, China, who had been living in Angola. The eleventh case is a 29-year-old male from Jiangsu Province, China, who had been working in Angola.

Advice for Travellers

There is no yellow fever circulating in China, however, the vector mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is present and there is a risk that yellow fever virus could be introduced into the mosquito population if a patient, viraemic with yellow fever was to be bitten by a mosquito. The dengue fever season begins in July in this part of China.

For this reason China has a YF certificate requirement: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required for travellers over 9 months of age arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission and for all travellers having transited through the airport of a country with risk of yellow fever transmission.