The virus, as well as the vector A. aegypti, were probably transferred to North and South America with the trafficking of slaves from Africa, part of the Columbian exchange following European exploration and colonization.The first definitive outbreak of yellow fever in the New World was in 1647 on the island of Barbados. An outbreak was recorded by Spanish colonists in 1648 in the Yucatán Peninsula, where the indigenous Mayan people called the illness xekik ("blood vomit"). In 1685, Brazil suffered its first epidemic in Recife. The first mention of the disease by the name "yellow fever" occurred in 1744. (John Mitchell) (1805) (Mitchells account of the Yellow Fever in Virginia in 1741–2) Archived 2017-02-23 at the Wayback Machine, The Philadelphia Medical Museum, 1 (1) : 1–20. (John Mitchell) (1814) "Account of the Yellow fever which prevailed in Virginia in the years 1737, 1741, and 1742, in a letter to the late Cadwallader Colden, Esq. of New York, from the late John Mitchell, M.D.F.R.S. of Virginia," Archived 2017-02-23 at the Wayback Machine American Medical and Philosophical Register, 4 : 181–215. The term "yellow fever" appears on p. 186. On p. 188, Mitchell mentions "… the distemper was what is generally called yellow fever in America". However, on pages 191–192, he states "… I shall consider the cause of the yellowness which is so remarkable in this distemper, as to have given it the name of the Yellow Fever.
Death occurs in up to half of those who get severe disease.In 2013, yellow fever resulted in about 127,050 severe infections and 45,000 deaths worldwide, with nearly 90 percent of these occurring in Africa. Nearly a billion people live in an area of the world where the disease is common. It is common in tropical areas of the continents of South America and Africa, but not in Asia. Since the 1980s, the number of cases of yellow fever has been increasing. This is believed to be due to fewer people being immune, more people living in cities, people moving frequently, and changing climate increasing the habitat for mosquitoes.The disease originated in Africa and spread to the Americas starting in the 15th century with the European trafficking of enslaved Africans from sub-Saharan Africa. Since the 17th century, several major outbreaks of the disease have occurred in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. In the 18th and 19th centuries, yellow fever was considered one of the most dangerous infectious diseases; numerous epidemics swept through major cities of the US and in other parts of the world.In 1927, yellow fever virus was the first human virus to be isolated. Signs and symptoms
Yellow fever begins after an incubation period of three to six days. Most cases cause only a mild infection with fever, headache, chills, back pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle pain, nausea, and vomiting.