Ecuador under epidemiological alert for pertussis, yellow fever, and leptospirosis

According to Lama, yellow fever “is contained” in the Ecuadorean Amazon

Ecuador has mandated mask-wearing in schools across provinces like Guayas, Manabí, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Guayaquil, and Pichincha for 60 days due to an epidemiological alert caused by rising cases of whooping cough (321 cases, primarily in children) and yellow fever (four cases in Amazonian provinces).

As the Ministries of Education and Health are implementing preventive measures, including medical brigades and a vaccination campaign against yellow fever, the Government started requesting travelers from neighboring Colombia and Peru to produce yellow fever vaccination certificates.

“This is not about an emergency that there is an epidemic; there is no epidemic,” Health Minister Edgar Lama explained. “What we are talking about is to prevent the existence of an epidemic, and that is why we must act very aggressively and decisively,” he added. According to Lama, yellow fever “is contained” in the Ecuadorean Amazon.

Pertussis (whooping cough) is an acute bacterial disease that affects the respiratory tract and is more serious in infants and children. In Ecuador, at least 300 cases were recorded in children under one year of age, and another 38 in children between one and four years old.

At the same time, Ecuador faces a health contingency due to the presence of four cases of yellow fever, so they promote a vaccination campaign against that disease. This viral disease, which is transmitted through mosquito bites, can affect both humans and primates and, in case of serious complications, causes liver failure, hemorrhages, and even death. Starting May 12, Ecuador will be requiring yellow fever vaccination certificates for travelers from Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia between 1 and 59 years of age. Last month, Colombia declared a nationwide health emergency due to the “active circulation” of the yellow fever virus.

A third health alert for leptospirosis has been added to the health alerts issued in Ecuador after eight children died in the last few days in the town of Taisha, in the Amazonian province of Morona Santiago. Initially the Ministry of Health did not determine the cause of these deaths, but reported on Saturday that they were generated by the “leptospira” bacteria that causes leptospirosis, an infection acquired through the feces or urine of certain infected animals and is transmitted to humans by contaminated water or soil or by direct contact with animals.