Angola and Yellow Fever
The continent of Africa is a diverse place. Many cultures, languages, and ethnicities are sporadically spread throughout its landscapes, but regardless of the diversity of Africa there are several commonalities that make the continent of Africa prone to certain problems. One of these problems has been made manifest in nation of Angola as it struggles with an outbreak of yellow fever. Many physical and cultural aspects of Africa’s geography make it prone to these types of outbreaks.
Angola has had 277 people die from yellow fever since this past December (Kupferschmidt). And the government of Angola has had a hard time stemming new infections for several reasons. The main reason is because of a shortage of the yellow …show more content…
The larger city of Luanda has accentuated the infection rate of yellow fever. Yellow fever is transmitted from monkeys to human by way of mosquitos. Which this causes yellow fever infections common in the tropical areas of Africa, but these cases are often isolated and short lived. But when a substantial part of the population in large cities are infected with yellow fever mosquitos can start transmitting the disease from human to human. That is where large outbreaks of yellow fever, like the current one in Angola, begin (Kupferschmidt). This causes concerns that yellow fever could spread to large cities in the surrounding African countries and even to cities in Southern Asia.
Another reason that has led to and heightened the yellow fever outbreak is simply the location of Angola. Angola is located on the southwest coast of Africa. Because of its relative proximity to the equator most of Angola’s landscape is covered in a wet, tropical savanna. The mosquito that transmits yellow fever unfortunately thrives in this type of climate, and this one physical geographic aspect of Angola makes it more susceptible to diseases, such as malaria, sleeping sickness, and yellow
The continent of Africa is a diverse place. Many cultures, languages, and ethnicities are sporadically spread throughout its landscapes, but regardless of the diversity of Africa there are several commonalities that make the continent of Africa prone to certain problems. One of these problems has been made manifest in nation of Angola as it struggles with an outbreak of yellow fever. Many physical and cultural aspects of Africa’s geography make it prone to these types of outbreaks.
Angola has had 277 people die from yellow fever since this past December (Kupferschmidt). And the government of Angola has had a hard time stemming new infections for several reasons. The main reason is because of a shortage of the yellow …show more content…
The larger city of Luanda has accentuated the infection rate of yellow fever. Yellow fever is transmitted from monkeys to human by way of mosquitos. Which this causes yellow fever infections common in the tropical areas of Africa, but these cases are often isolated and short lived. But when a substantial part of the population in large cities are infected with yellow fever mosquitos can start transmitting the disease from human to human. That is where large outbreaks of yellow fever, like the current one in Angola, begin (Kupferschmidt). This causes concerns that yellow fever could spread to large cities in the surrounding African countries and even to cities in Southern Asia.
Another reason that has led to and heightened the yellow fever outbreak is simply the location of Angola. Angola is located on the southwest coast of Africa. Because of its relative proximity to the equator most of Angola’s landscape is covered in a wet, tropical savanna. The mosquito that transmits yellow fever unfortunately thrives in this type of climate, and this one physical geographic aspect of Angola makes it more susceptible to diseases, such as malaria, sleeping sickness, and yellow