Yellow fever is poised to become the next global health emergency

An outbreak of yellow fever could become the latest global health emergency, experts have warned. A major flare up in Angola has been followed by two smaller outbreaks in Uganda and Congo, and while largely under control, scientists have warned countries to be vigilant. Yellow fever is hard to spot early on and spreads quickly in towns, transmitted by the same mosquito that carries the Zika virus. The pest bites in the daytime and has flourished during the abnormal El Nino weather of the past year caused by the warming of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. “What we hope is that El Nino will not be faster than we are,” said Sylvie Briand, head of WHO's department of pandemic and epidemic diseases. “We are concerned for other countries that have high densities of mosquitoes.” The concern comes as two Georgetown University professors have called on the WHO to convene an emergency committee under the International Health Regulations. In addition, with frequent emerging epidemics, they call for the creation of a “standing emergency committee” to be prepared for future health emergencies