PROFESSIONALS from the Ministries of Agriculture and Public Health and the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) will, over the next three days, receive hands-on training on epizootic and vector integrated surveillance for Yellow Fever.
The programme, which commenced on Tuesday at Cara Lodge, was organised by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA).

The programme seeks to train professionals from the two ministries and the GFC, who will be directly involved in the establishment of a surveillance model for epizootics Non-Human Primates (NHP) and Yellow Fever vectors in endemic areas.

It will also establish the foundations for such surveillance mechanism in Guyana.
The programme also aims to introduce and explain Brazil’s protocol and experiences for integrated Yellow Fever surveillance and exchange experiences with a team of experts from Brazil.

The general objective of the workshop is to structure a system and promote capacity building for the surveillance of NHP and applied entomology of yellow fever in Guyana.
PAHO believes that it is essential that surveillance systems in Yellow Fever endemic countries have a system for surveillance of epizootics in NHP, as an alert or early warning on the presence of the wild Yellow Fever virus.

The objective of the NHP surveillance mechanism is to prevent the occurrence of human cases through a thorough investigation of epizootics and investigation of the presence of the Yellow Fever virus in NHP and in vectors.

The expected result of the training is to have a pool of trained Guyanese professionals in this type of surveillance. The trainees are expected to serve as future coaches for the replication of the same course and creating capacities in endemic Yellow Fever areas in Guyana.

According to PAHO, Yellow Fever continues to be a major public health problem in the Americas. Despite vaccination in endemic areas, sporadic cases and outbreaks continue to occur.

Humans become infected when they enter the forest and are exposed to the mosquitoes which carry the virus. Most of the cases of Yellow Fever in Guyana occurred among unvaccinated persons who have travelled to the jungle.
These sporadic cases can occasionally cause small outbreaks in communities near the jungle areas.

Resident PAHO/WHO Representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow, in his remarks at the opening of the programme, said although certain parts of the Americas continue to record cases of Yellow Fever, Guyana has been free of the virus since 1968.
“We have been free of Yellow Fever since 1968, we need to keep it that way… we need to be cognisant that we border Brazil and that has a lot of influence in Region Nine,” said Dr. Adu-Krow.

He said port surveillance, in that regard, is important because Guyana needs to monitor persons who are coming from endemic areas.
In taking a more proactive approach, Guyana had introduced Yellow Fever vaccines in 2000 and since then, there has been 95 per cent coverage.
Dr. Adu-Krow, however, said although there is 95 per cent coverage, it means that for every birth cohort, Guyana is missing five per cent. In that case, he said it is important to have mass immunisation. According to reports, one dose of the Yellow Fever vaccine is valid for life.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), Dr. Dwight Waldron, in his remarks, echoed the sentiments of Dr. Adu-Krow, noting that with Guyana expected to see a boost in air transportation, it is important for the country to monitor traffic from endemic areas.