Yellow fever caused 18 deaths among 67 confirmed cases in nine African countries from Jan. 1 to Oct. 12, 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, cautioning that more infections were likely in its African Region.
WHO’s assessment on Oct. 27 rated the public-health risk moderate in its African Region and low worldwide. The 67-case regional total covers Jan. 1-Oct. 12, but WHO used differing reporting cutoffs for country totals.
Côte d’Ivoire had 30 cases and 10 deaths. Burkina Faso recorded 15 cases and three deaths, while Cameroon had nine cases and one death; Ghana and Nigeria each had four cases, with three deaths in Ghana and one in Nigeria. The Central African Republic had two cases, and Guinea and Togo had one each, with no deaths in those three countries. Liberia had one case; WHO did not list a separate death figure for the country.
Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Liberia were the main locations of recent activity, including areas close to international borders. WHO said cross-border travel, mosquitoes that transmit the virus, uneven vaccine coverage and immunity gaps heighten the chance of additional spread. It said epidemiological links between the events had not been established. WHO also warned that infection reaching densely populated urban or peri-urban communities with low immunity could cause larger outbreaks and strain response capacity.
People who have not been vaccinated face the greatest risk, particularly in rural and forest-edge communities, among mobile and cross-border populations, and for workers in forestry, agriculture and mining, WHO said. National authorities, WHO and other partners were conducting surveillance, investigating cases and providing vaccinations in affected and at-risk areas.
WHO describes yellow fever as a mosquito-borne viral disease; about 15% of infected people develop severe illness, and about half of those with severe illness die within seven to 10 days. The agency identifies vaccination as the main preventive measure and says one dose protects for life. It says care focuses on supportive treatment because it does not routinely recommend a yellow fever-specific antiviral.
