Dakar — Health officials have confirmed three cases of yellow fever in Côte d'Ivoire's northwest Denguélé region.

"We have 10 suspected cases, with three confirmed," Siméon N'da, Health Ministry head of communications, told IRIN on 16 November. Health workers vaccinated people in and around affected villages at the weekend, according to N'da. He did not specify how many people were vaccinated and in what localities.

N'da said there had been no deaths from the mosquito-borne viral infection. Local taxi drivers told IRIN they transported the bodies of four teenagers from the village of Tron Touba to the region's main city Odienné in a period of a few days the week of 9 November. Villagers said they had died of an unknown illness.

Local health officials in Odienné would not comment.

Some 30,000 people worldwide die of yellow fever each year, of about 200,000 cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). No cure exists and 50 percent of infected people who cannot access treatment will die, according to WHO, which says vaccination is "the single most important preventive measure".

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]