Deportees from Togo to be checked for yellow fever

The Health ministry yesterday alerted Medical Officers of Health (MOH) to locate the illegal immigrants who were recently deported from Togo and check them for symptoms of the dreaded yellow fever.

The officers were asked to report immediately to the Government Epidemiology Unit (GEU) and Quarantine Unit (QU) if any of the deportees are found to suffer from the disease.

A Health Ministry spokesman said Ministry Secretary Dr. Ravindra Ruberu had issued the relevant circular so as to prevent a possible spread of the killer fever which was wide spread in Africa.

A group of 28 Sri Lankan asylum seekers while attempting to illegally migrate to Canada via Togo in West Africa had been detained and deported to Sri Lanka on Monday.

The 27 Tamils and one Muslim were from Jaffna, Batticaloa and Colombo.

Health Services Deputy Director General Dr. Sarath Amunugama confirmed Health Ministry concerns.

“This is a pre-emptive measure taken by the Ministry as yellow fever is wide spread in Africa and we have information that several Sri Lankans deported from Togo had been suffering from yellow fever and later cured of the disease.

Dr. Amunugama said the Sri Lankan branch of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) had failed to alert the Health Ministry on the deportation and therefore the Ministry had to take steps to locate the deportees and check them for yellow fever.

“The Health Ministry could have tested the deportees for symptoms of yellow fever if the IOM had informed in advance about the arrival of these Sri Lankans. They have failed to do that and we are in a quandary by having to locate and check the members of the group,” he said. “We are especially worried that dengue mosquitoes are the carriers of the RNA virus in the Flaviviridae family that carries yellow fever at a time when dengue is also on the rise in the country.”

Dr. Amunugama said the IOM was legally bound to give an alert on such deportation as it was the IOM that arranged the process with the cooperation of the Togo authorities.

If found to be infected with the virus, the MOHs have been instructed to send the patient’s blood sample to the QU. The patient must also be brought to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Angoda and kept isolated. 

Dr. Amunugama added that though curable, immediate medical attention was vital to prevent deaths.

Yellow fever begins after an incubation period of three to six days. Most cases only cause a mild infection with fever, headache, chills, and back pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.

In these cases the infection lasts only three to four days. In 15 per cent of cases, however, patients enter a second, toxic phase of the disease with recurring fever, this time accompanied either by jaundice due to liver damage and abdominal pain.

Bleeding from the mouth, the eyes and in the gastrointestinal tract will cause vomit laced with blood. The toxic phase is fatal in approximately 20 per cent of cases, making the overall fatality rate for the disease three per cent. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)