Urban yellow fever risk management: handbook for national preparedness and response planning

Overview

This handbook provides practical guidance to help countries prepare for and respond to the risk of urban yellow fever outbreaks. It highlights that even a single yellow fever case in an urban setting can signal a potential public health emergency where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are present and population immunity is low. The handbook supports early detection, rapid response and coordinated preparedness efforts, helping countries assess and manage urban yellow fever risk and develop context-specific contingency plans.

Organized around seven preparedness and response pillars, the handbook offers operational tools, checklists and scenario-based actions for coordination, surveillance, laboratory testing, community engagement, clinical care, vaccination, vector control, and management of travel and population movement. It enables Member States to identify gaps, strengthen capacities and implement measures to prevent urban transmission, reduce illness and deaths, and protect vulnerable populations.