Considerable debate exists over whether the number of deaths caused by disease in the Haitian Revolution was exaggerated.Although yellow fever is most prevalent in tropical-like climates, the northern United States were not exempted from the fever. The first outbreak in English-speaking North America occurred in New York City in 1668. English colonists in Philadelphia and the French in the Mississippi River Valley recorded major outbreaks in 1669, as well as additional yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York City in the 18th and 19th centuries. The disease traveled along steamboat routes from New Orleans, causing some 100,000–150,000 deaths in total. The yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia, which was then the capital of the United States, resulted in the deaths of several thousand people, more than 9% of the population. One of these deaths was James Hutchinson, a physician helping to treat the population of the city. The national government fled the city to Trenton, New Jersey, including President George Washington. The southern city of New Orleans was plagued with major epidemics during the 19th century, most notably in 1833 and 1853. A major epidemic occurred in both New Orleans and Shreveport, Louisiana in 1873. Its residents called the disease "yellow jack".
The eradication of yellow fever strengthened the relationship between the US and Mexico, which had not been very good in the years prior. The eradication of yellow fever was also a major step toward better global health.In 1927, scientists isolated the yellow fever virus in West Africa. Following this, two vaccines were developed in the 1930s. Max Theiler led the completion of the 17D yellow fever vaccine in 1937, for which he was subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. That vaccine, 17D, is still in use, although newer vaccines, based on vero cells, are in development (as of 2018). Current status
Using vector control and strict vaccination programs, the urban cycle of yellow fever was nearly eradicated from South America. Since 1943, only a single urban outbreak in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, has occurred. Since the 1980s, however, the number of yellow fever cases has been increasing again, and A. aegypti has returned to the urban centers of South America. This is partly due to limitations on available insecticides, as well as habitat dislocations caused by climate change. It is also because the vector control program was abandoned. Although no new urban cycle has yet been established, scientists believe this could happen again at any point. An outbreak in Paraguay in 2008 was thought to be urban in nature, but this ultimately proved not to be the case.In Africa, virus eradication programs have mostly relied upon vaccination.