Liberian vaccination teams have braved torrential rains, flooding rivers, mud holes and arduous walking to carry out an emergency campaign which has averted the threat of a yellow fever epidemic in the north-western coastal county of Grand Cape Mount.

Almost 86,000 men, women and children – some 70% of the 128,000 population – have now been reached in the acute phase of the campaign which lasted from 8 to 15 September. Mop up activities will continue until the end of the month, along with active surveillance for new cases. Before the campaign fewer than 5% of the population was protected by yellow fever vaccination.

"The vaccinators haven't let the rain stop them" says Dr Tanu Duworko, Grand Cape Mount County health officer, who has been in charge of the campaign, "Some people have had to walk up to seven hours in the rain to get to the hard-to-reach villages, or wait for rivers to go down so they can cross – but they are doing it."

One team even managed to gain access to a women's secret society – a common cultural phenomenon in Liberia – which was holding an initiation, to take blood samples from two girls with jaundice and to vaccinate the entire society.

The campaign was planned by WHO in collaboration with the ministry of health and the non-governmental organizations Oxfam, World Vision, Médicins Sans Frontières and the Initiative pour Solidarite Africane, and has involved over 280 people.

Funding sources also responded rapidly. In late August WHO Geneva flew in US$85,000-worth of vaccine and disposable needles – enough for 180,000 doses – funded by monies from donors including the British, Irish and Japanese Governments.

WHO Liberia stumped up operational funds to get the campaign up and running rapidly, while the bulk of the vaccination teams are made up of health workers from Oxfam and World Vision-supported clinic.

The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has agreed to underwrite the month-long campaign via Oxfam to the tune of US$55,000 for such costs as training, logistics, fuel, vaccinator team payments, social mobilisation and coverage evaluation. The British Government, though its Department for International Development has also donated US$100,000 to extend the campaign into neighbouring vulnerable counties with equally low vaccination coverage.

Over 115 suspected cases have been reported from seven of Liberia's 13 counties since the outbreak was declared in late August with the vast majority stemming from Grand Cape Mount. Five deaths have been attributed to the disease. However, only two cases from Grand Mount County have so far been found positive for yellow fever in laboratory tests.

With disease control now on track in Grand Cape Mount, attention is now turning to the neighbouring counties of Bomi and Lower Lofa where it is hoped a new campaign, co-ordinated by Médicins Sans Frontières International, will get underway next week.

At the same time, WHO Sierra Leone is leading a parallel campaign in the border provinces where the risk of disease transmission is high due to the mobile population.

Thanks to the Italian Government, 100,000 doses of vaccine will arrive in Freetown early next week and training of vaccinators teams in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and NGOs Médicins Sans Frontières Belgium and France is already underway.