The Spread Of Yellow Fever In Africa And South America

958 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Brief history of yellow fever

What is yellow fever?
Yellow Fever is a virus that is found in tropical areas of both Africa and South America (Monath 160). It is found in 47 countries in both those areas (WHO 1). It is generally called “Yellow Fever” because of its medical symptoms such as the yellowing of skin and eyes that affect many people (WHO 1).

While Yellow Fever had existed in the 1690s, the first serious known case of Yellow Fever is in the breakout in Philadelphia in America of the year 1793 where black refugees from the Caribbean spread the disease which killed 5,000 people (History.com Staff 1) Although they were having difficulties dealing with the virus, cold weather helped get rid of the mosquitos and lower the percentage of deaths per month (History.com …show more content…

The reason mosquitos and ticks retract the virus is because they feed on monkeys carrying the virus. Since it is carried by insects that feed on human blood, the disease is then transmitted to humans. Because these insects accumulate the virus and are usually around the common people, they spread the Yellow Fever disease to the people residing in the areas as well as travelers who end up taking the viral infection with them back to their home country where the disease does not normally reside and where a possible epidemic may occur besides the one already happening in the area it comes from (Monath 162). Certain beginning symptoms involve fever, muscle pain, back pain, headaches, bleeding, vomiting, etc. (WHO 1) In the “toxic phase” however, people develop the yellowing of skin and eyes known as “jaundice”, dark urine, and more vomiting. (WHO 1). After that stage, about half of patients die in the duration of 7-10 days as their livers and kidneys stop …show more content…

An example of what they may use to stay hygienic is proper clothing in order to be covered and protect themselves insects carrying the disease. Another is providing them with insect repellant to help with skin that is exposed. If they get to know what the disease is and the symptoms that come with it, they can instantly go for a check up and being in the early stages of Yellow Fever is less dangerous than having people in the toxic phase. Also, if information is spread, common people could make sure families and other people around them are informed as

Show More
Related

  • A Brief History of Yellow Fever

    2246 Words  | 5 Pages

    There is no definitive history or discovery date, but it is assumed that Yellow Fever originated in Africa and was brought to the Americas by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes “hitchhiking” on trade and slave ships. The first believed outbreak happened in 1648 in the Yucatán. It is “believed” because early documentation of disease and illness was not thoroughly investigated or described, they could have been caused by one thing or another. There is ...

    Read More

  • Typhus Disease Research Paper

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    The last time Typhus was recorded was by the British Troops during World War II. They had forty two cases of Typhus in 1942 and that was one year after the allied forces arrived. Then the year after that there was five hundred and eighty two cases of Typhus...

    Read More

  • Horace Greeley's Influence On African Americans

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    The yellow-fever started in Memphis, Tennessee in a restaurant and soon spread fast across the state and neighboring states. “Yellow fever, which is carried by mosquitos, originally came from West Africa and was brought to the United States on slaves ships” (History, 2009). The impact of the yellow-fever blamed and hated African Americans for spreading it in America. Some politicians that wanted to abolish slavery took this event as something positive for the black. The antislavery followers viewed yellow-fever as the slave owners fault since it was their slave ships that brought the infected to US soil. In the end, this influence both has a good and bad affect for the African American

    Read More

  • World War Z by Max Brooks

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    This lead to the demise of the population when the disease was transported through the heart of an infected man. Once the doctors completed the heart transplant, the man came to life with the generic grey blood and he was much more hostile.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Cause And Effects Of The Columbian Exchange

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    With no treatment half of patients who enter the second phase die within ten to fourteen days. Similar to yellow fever, malaria was transmitted to humans through mosquito bites, causing symptoms such as fever, fatigue, and vomiting. Difficult to recognize at first malaria continues to cause yellowing of the skin, seizures, and even death; these symptoms normally begin after ten to fifteen days after being contracted. Malaria was brought over to early America through slavery and killed millions of people between the seventeenth and twentieth century. Throughout the growth and expansion of America there was been several disease outbreaks both endemic and epidemic such as small pox, measles, yellow fever, and malaria. Starting with the Colombian exchange and slavery these diseases were brought to the new world and spread like wildfires that devastated populations both native and nonnative. Most commonly known for the death toll on the native Americans these diseases were so costly due to low resistance, poor sanitation, and inadequate

    Read More

  • The Spread of Disease In the New World

    1820 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Spread of Disease In the New World The extraordinary good health of the natives prior to the coming of the Europeans would become a key ingredient in their disastrous undoing. The greatest cause of disease in America was epidemic diseases imported from Europe. Epidemic diseases killed with added virulence in the " virgin soil" populations of the Americas. The great plague that arose in the Old World never emerged on their own in the western hemisphere and did not spread across oceans until Columbus' discovery.

    Read More

  • The Klondike Gold Rush

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    Glasner, Joyce. “Yellow Fever.” Canada’s History 91.3 (2011): 46-47. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • Antonine Plague Research Paper

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    From 166 A.D. to 180 A.D., The Antonine Plague spread around Europe devastating many countries. This epidemic killed thousands per day and is also known as the modern-day name Smallpox. It is known as one of deadliest plagues around the world.

    Read More

  • The History of Smallpox and Its Erradication

    2327 Words  | 5 Pages

    Back in the ancient’s time during the pre-historic era as far as 1000 AD this disease was not very much known to people but have said to be found on an Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses V mummy who died in 1157BC (Henderson, Fenner, Arita, Ladnyi, 1988 p 209-210). There was evidence of pustule eruption and rash that have been seen on the mummy similar to the description of a variola virus. Part of the idea of where this disease came from is unknown and where the origin of this disease is very much not clear. This disease that is known to be contagious and deadly at times is called smallpox. The early civilization had believed smallpox was originated from Africa and soon had spread though out the world like China and India (Fenn, 2003).

    Read More

  • Smallpox

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Steffano-Davis, Stephanie S. "A Great Desolation: Yellow Fever, Smallpox, and Influenza in American History." Thesis. Humboldt University, 2006. A Great Desolation: Yellow Fever, Smallpox, and Influenza in American History. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. .

    Read More

  • Lyme Disease

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    A person can prevent the disease. And, there are many ways to do this. One is to put on insect repellent with Deet. Another is to wear long sleeves and long pants. Also, tuck your pants in socks. And, wear a hat. Finally, stay away from wooded areas.

    Read More

  • Government Responses and Expectations During the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many states and colonies across the globe issued detailed sets of directives to their residents on what exactly they should do if they come into contact with the illness. One such example is the directive issued by T.W.H. Holmes, the Secretary of the Victoria Board of Public Health in Australia. The directive details the symptoms, complications, treatment, and prevention of the disease. Something very common during the outbreak of any pandemic is the use of quarantines to separate the sick and the healthy. In fact, that is the first order for prevention of disease in T.W.H. Holme...

    Read More

  • Misconceptions Shown in Fever 1793

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    Murphy, Jim. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic 1793. New York, New York: Clariton Book, 2003. Print.

    Read More

  • The Disease Yellow Fever

    607 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yellow fever is a deadly disease caused by a viral infection that is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Although it is found to be most common in males in their early 20's, yellow fever can affect any sex, race, or age. Since yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes, it is most often found in areas such as Central America, the northern half of South America, and Central Africa where mosquitoes are abundant. The reason why it is found so often in these regions is because they are very close to the equatorial line, and are there for hot, moist, tropical environs.

    Read More

  • Dengue Fever Essay

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dengue fever, also known as the “breakbone fever”, is a vector-borne viral disease endemic in tropic and subtropic regions, with around 100 million symptomatic new cases each year worldwide15. It is caused by any one of the four closely-related serotypes or viruses that is spread by multiple species of mosquitoes, in particular the Aedes aegypti 6,13.

    Read More

More about The Spread Of Yellow Fever In Africa And South America

Open Document