Podcast: EYE on yellow fever

‘EYE on yellow fever’ is a podcast series highlighting the global risks of yellow fever and how the EYE Strategy is addressing these challenges in the most-affected countries.  

The Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) Strategy was launched in 2017 with the vision to stop all yellow fever epidemics by 2026. 

You can listen to the trailer here: 

Bonus episode: Ghana: A Yellow Fever Success Story

Ghana is seen as one of Africa’s success stories in the fight against yellow fever. We talk to two scientists leading the country’s immunization programme for this bonus episode. Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano from the Ghana Health Service and WHO’s Dr Fred Osei-Sarpong share their experience and insights on how engaging even the hard-to-reach communities has been crucial in curbing and containing outbreaks of the fatal disease in the country.

For more on EYE Strategy’s work visit  https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 16: Yellow Fever in Africa: A real-time emergency

Yellow fever presents a clear and present danger to populations across Africa, with WHO teams and partners working hard to curb outbreaks across multiple African countries. The base of operation for the response coordination is Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. For this episode, incident manager Dr Ado Bwaka and vaccination lead Dr Hadiatou Diallo join us from Burkina Faso to share their learnings. 

For more on EYE https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 15: Monkeys and yellow fever

What part do non-human primates, like monkeys and apes, play in the transmission of yellow fever? This episode focuses on monitoring and response work in the rainforests of Argentina, where yellow fever is present among howler monkeys - and can be passed on to humans. Dr María Morales and Dr Silvina Goenaga are from Argentina’s Institute for Human Viral Diseases (INEVH). Sound effects in this episode are obtained from zapsplat.com. 

For more on EYE https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 14: Inside a yellow fever laboratory

What is the critical diagnostic information that public health officials use to assess whether suspected yellow fever cases can officially be declared an outbreak? We visit a research centre in Senegal that is at the heart of yellow fever diagnostics. The Institut Pasteur de Dakar is one of three regional reference laboratories for yellow fever in Africa that tests samples sent from across the continent. Dr Gamou Fall, Head of IP Dakar's yellow fever Regional Reference Laboratory, takes us through that painstaking process.

For more on EYE https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 13: The Amazon, climate change, and yellow Fever risk

The Amazon rainforest is under increasing pressure from climate change, deforestation, extractive industries like mining, and a range of human-induced factors. This episode explores the public health impacts of pressures on the Amazon, including an increased risk of yellow fever outbreaks. With Dr Anice Sallum, Professor or Medical Epidemiology and Entomology at Sao Paolo University’s School of Public Health, and Dr Amy Vittor, Assistant Professor in Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at the University of Florida.

For more on EYE https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 12: A New Frontier in Public Health

We focus on a disease-monitoring system that is literally out of this world. Dr Charalampos Kontoes - Research Director of Greece's National Observatory of Athens - coordinates an early warning system that tracks mosquitoes' movement using satellites. He tells us about the technology and how it's recently been given European money to expand and scale up the operation.

For more on EYE https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 11: Urban outbreaks - a global risk

How do at-risk countries prepare to respond quickly in the event of a yellow fever outbreak in an urban area? Dr Linda Esso, a senior public health official from Cameroon, talks about the challenges her country faces in dealing proactively with the threat of yellow fever. We also hear from EYE's Dr Peter Mbondji who has developed guidelines to support countries with their readiness and response plans for urban outbreaks. 

For more on EYE https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 10: The Road to 2026

In this final episode of EYE on yellow fever, three key members of the EYE Partnership reflect on key themes from across the series. Also, in the face of COVID-19, global warming, the refugee crisis and increasing urbanization, will EYE live up to the targets and goals it has set itself by its deadline of 2026? With Dr Christopher Gregory from UNICEF, Cassandra Quintanilla from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and EYE Secretariat lead Dr Laurence Cibrelus.

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 9: Spotlight on Nigeria

Nigeria is a yellow fever hotspot and a big focus for EYE activity. 97 million people have been vaccinated in the country since the EYE Strategy started. Prof Oyewale Tomori, president of the Nigerian Academy of Science and a former WHO Africa virologist, says that preventive yellow fever campaigns can protect economies as well as lives. He also discusses lessons learned from yellow fever campaigns that have helped in the fight against COVID-19.

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 8: Public health in a humanitarian crisis

Yellow fever and other disease outbreaks often beset vulnerable, conflict-affected places. This increases risk, and makes prevention and response more complex. The challenging reality of tackling infectious disease in humanitarian settings, with Dr Jorge Castilla, the World Health Organization’s Senior Coordinator for Health Emergency Response, and Dr Daniela Garone, International Medical Coordinator for Medicins Sans Frontiers.

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 7: Charting Breakthroughs with Dr Raman Velayudhan

From the initial development of the yellow fever vaccine to fractionated dosing in response to the 2016 Angola/Democratic Republic of the Congo outbreak, a key part of the yellow fever story has long been the dedication, commitment and intellect that has gone into advancing the science that combats the disease. But with climate change posing new risks in new parts of the world, what innovation is happening now to help control and minimize vector-borne diseases like yellow fever? We hear from Dr Raman Velayudhan, unit head for vector control, veterinary public health and environment at WHO. 

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 6: A Perspective on vaccination with Dr Kate O’Brien 

By 2026, the EYE Strategy aims to have ended yellow fever epidemics, and to have protected up to a billion people in Africa and the Americas with preventative yellow fever vaccinations. This is allied with a broader vaccination framework: Immunization Agenda 2030. In this episode, WHO Director of the Department of Immunizations, Vaccines and Biologicals, Dr Kate O’Brien sets out the priorities of two strategies, and how they jointly make a global impact.

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 5: Cities At Risk

We know from COVID-19 that proximity between people is a major risk factor in the spread of outbreak disease - and yellow fever is no exception. As increasing numbers of people in Africa and South America move to cities, the risk of mass-outbreaks of yellow fever increases. Slums, favelas and other informal dwellings are particular risk hotspots. This episode hears from Dr Erin Staples from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr Matthew Steele of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 4: Public Health in the Climate Crisis

The warming of our planet is, for many reasons, among the most significant issues of our age. But we perhaps don’t give enough thought to climate change as specifically a health crisis. For example, what will happen when new areas of the world are hot and humid enough to support pathogen-carrying mosquitoes? This episode hears from Professor Rachel Lowe of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Professor Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at Madison’s University of Wisconsin, and WHO vector control specialist Dr Florence Fouque.

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 3: How COVID-19 changed everything

Since COVID-19 emerged in December 2019, it has drained resources in yellow fever hotspots, and delayed lifesaving vaccination campaigns, increasing the risk of outbreaks. Despite this, 48 million people were still vaccinated against yellow fever in 2020. How does this happen in the midst of a pandemic? And what can that pandemic teach us about combatting yellow fever in the future? We get the perspectives of Dr Mike Ryan, who heads up WHO's response, and Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Head of the Nigeria CDC.  

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 2: A History of Yellow Fever

In the days before scientists understood how yellow fever was transmitted - and well before there was a vaccine - people referred to the disease by how it manifested itself. They called it “Vómito Negro” - black vomit. In this episode, Dr Aldighieri from PAHO helps us chart the deadly history of yellow fever from 3000 years ago through the present day. Also Dr Fall, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response talks about the setting up of the EYE strategy and the plan to eliminate yellow fever epidemics by 2026. 

For more on the EYE strategy: https://www.who.int/initiatives/eye-strategy

Episode 1: A global threat 

More on yellow fever

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