Yellow fever is spreading from Angola to Congo, the World Health Organisation has said .
Twenty-one people, out of 151 cases have already died in Democratic Republic of Congo, some of them from infections contracted in neighbouring Angola, according to WHO.
An outbreak has already killed 225 people and infected 1,600 in Angola. There was now a high risk of further spread in Congo, given the number of people who regularly travel between the two countries, the WHO said.
Of the 151 suspected cases, nine were confirmed by serology at the Institute National Biomedical Research (INRB) in Kinshasa.
“Given possible cross-reactions with other arboviruses, positive samples were sent to the Pasteur Institute of Dakar for confirmation where four tested positive for the infection. Of the four cases confirmed in Dakar, three were imported from Angola and were detected in the areas of Nsona-Pangu, Kimpese and Kitona in Congo Central province , which shares borders with Angola.
WHO has urged members states, especially those whose citizens are at risk to strengthen the control of immunisation status of travellers to all potentially endemic areas.
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