China confirms first case of yellow fever

Beijing: China on Sunday confirmed the country's first yellow fever case in a man who contracted the infection in Angola, prompting health officials to take necessary measures to stop the acute viral disease from spreading further.

National Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed the nation's first imported yellow fever case in Beijing.

The patient, a 32-year-old man from east Zhejiang Province, first experienced stage one symptoms of the disease, including fever and chills, on March 8 in Luanda, capital of Angola in Africa.

He sought medical treatment after returning to China on March 10 and is in a relatively serious condition with weakened liver and kidney functions, the Commission said.

The commission confirmed the case upon test results produced by the Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Yellow fever is an acute viral disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes and mostly found in tropical regions of Africa and Central and South America.

A panel of experts from Beijing and the CDC evaluated the case, concluding the risk of transmission and spreading is fairly low, as it is not the season for mosquito breeding.

The symptoms of the disease include fever, jaundice, and bleeding.

According to World Health Organisation, 30,000 people die due to yellow fever annually worldwide, with 90 per cent of the deaths occurring in Africa.