October EYE Strategy Newsletter 

6th EYE Strategy Annual Partners' Meeting

We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the 6th EYE Annual Partners’ Meeting on 29th and 30th November 2022. Registration is now open, so please click on the button below or use the link to go directly to the registration page. 

or use this link.

Country updates 

Images: WHO Nigeria in collaboration with state team conducting outbreak investigation & community survey of a confirmed yellow fever case in Kaiama (Local Government Area) of Kwara state., Nigeria. Photo credit: WHO Nigeria

Reactive vaccination campaigns (RVCs) 

All RVCs are approved by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision (ICG) and supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.   

Niger

The most recent ICG approval was on 24th October 2022. This will support an outbreak response in 3 districts in Niger: Keita, Madoua and Tchirozerine. The response will aim to protect about 1.2 million people (from the age of 9 months to 60 years).  

This outbreak response was triggered by the notification of YF cases in these three districts, with dates of onset from June through to August 2022.  The situation is made more complex by the circulation of Hepatitis E in some parts of country; an infection that can have similar clinical features to yellow fever.  

The country has received the vaccine and devices and is progressing with plans to implement in late November 2022.  

Central African Republic (CAR)  

CAR has been experiencing an outbreak of yellow fever since late 2021, with a total of 22 confirmed cases. The most recently confirmed case date is 14th March 2022. (There are several delays in recent laboratory results). 

The country was endorsed by the ICG for a response in March 2022, that would protect approximately 475,000 people in three districts: Batangafo-Kabo, Haut Mbombou and Nangha-Boguila. 

As part of the outbreak response, a first yellow fever RVC was launched on 13th July 2022 and completed in September. Delays were due to logistical and security constraints. 

The Bambari and Kembe Satema YF RVCs were launched in early November. Security problems occurred in both health districts. The two YF RVCs seek to protect approximately 736,727 people. 

Preventive mass vaccination campaigns (PMVCs) 

Uganda   

Uganda has now completed the rollout of YF vaccine into its routine immunization (RI) programme. This is a great achievement for the EYE Strategy, as Uganda is the second of four countries that were pending to introduce YF into their RI from the start of the Strategy.  

A multi-year PMVC is also planned to launch in upcoming weeks and due to run in three phases over 3 years. This will mark a significant step towards protecting the population against the disease. The aim is to target 12 million people in the 2022 phase of the campaign.  

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 

The proposed dates for launching the YF PMVCs are as follows: Sud Kivu - 24th November; Sankuru - 28th November and Maniema - 1st December 2022.

Further YF PMVCs are planned in Lomami, Kasai, East Kasai and Central Kasai for early 2023. Overall, the campaigns will aim to protect around 28 million people.    

Nigeria  

Activities in Ogun and Gombe states were completed in June. The PMVC is now being implemented in Borno, Kano, Enugu, and Adamawa, with the campaign in Bayelsa state being postponed until the first quarter of 2023 due to significant floods in the state.  

Laboratory network updates 

EYE.Ops (international YF samples’ transportation) - information video

Ghana 

EYE.Ops is the operational arm of the EYE Secretariat. It was set up in 2019 to support all laboratory members of the Global Yellow Fever Laboratory Network (GYFLN) into facilitating the shipment of samples between national laboratories and their respective Regional Reference Laboratories (RRL) or WHO Collaborative Centers.

This support encompasses not only the transportation, but also the financial support of these transports, and replenishment of the necessary triple packaging containers. 

This video has been produced to provide best practice advice to laboratories handling yellow fever samples to ensure their efficient collection and transportation. Click on the image above or click here to view the video. 

For further assistance, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Laboratory accreditation 

Events 

Click here or on the image above to see a video message from Dr William Komakech about the 6th EYE Annual Partners' Meeting 

6th EYE Annual Partners’ Meeting 
29th and 30th November 2022 - 3pm to 6pm Central European time - we welcome all subscribers to this newsletter to attend. To register, please click here. 

Regional workshop to strengthen regional reference laboratory’s confirmatory capacities using chimeric virus 
12th to 26th November 2022 - hosted by Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Entebbe, Uganda  

Regional combined Molecular & Serology and data management training workshop for French-speaking African countries
7th to 16th December 2022 – hosted by Institut Pasteur Dakar (IPD), Dakar, Senegal

Publications  

Article 

Yellow fever resurgence: An avoidable crisis?

Authors: Nicole P. Lindsey, Jennifer Horton, Alan D. T. Barrett, Maurice Demanou, Thomas P. Monath, Oyewale Tomori, Michel Van Herp, Herve Zeller, Ibrahima Soce Fall, Laurence Cibrelus, J. Erin Staples. 

This article explores several factors contributing to the resurgence of yellow fever in countries endemic to the disease, and with a previous history of both preventive mass vaccination campaigns and routine immunization. Contributing factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ebola crisis, are discussed, as well as vector evolution and expansion due to climate change.  

To read the full article click here.