ABSTRACT
Yellow fever and at least 8 of the other 13 major mosquito- and tick-borne arboviral diseases endemic in Africa and the Middle East are established or suspected in Ethiopia. Most arboviral diseases worldwide, with the possible exception of urban yellow fever, o’nyong nyong, and dengue, are zoonoses, since rodents, primates, and birds are preferred hosts of arboviruses. The epidemic is believed to have originated in endemic yellow fever centers in southern Sudan. The yellow fever virus strain isolated in Ethiopia during the epidemic from humans and Arboviruses other than yellow fever isolated in Ethiopia include not only other Group B flaviviruses but also Group A togaviruses, bunyaviruses, arenaviruses, and orbiviruses. An inherent danger of yellow fever in a least developed country like Ethiopia is that preventive measures, research, and infrastructure are difficult to maintain between widely spaced epidemics due to lack of resources.
