CDC working to keep yellow fever vaccine supply from running out

Officials are concerned about fighting the disease.

Only one vaccine called YF-VAX is licensed for use in the U.S. and the CDC reported today the vaccine is expected to run out by the middle of this year due to manufacturing problems with the supplier.

In a statement Sanofi said they had a manufacturing issue after preparing to move to a new manufacturing facility in 2018. While they implemented restriction in 2016 so help stretch supply, they said they anticipate YF-VAX will be unavailable from the middle of 2017 through the middle of 2018.

"Bringing answers to the global threat posed by yellow fever is a key commitment for Sanofi Pasteur. Sanofi Pasteur recognizes the challenge this supply disruption will cause for customers and for patients in need of yellow fever vaccine. We are making every effort to see that yellow fever vaccination continues in the U.S. during this YF-VAX vaccine supply disruption."

Getting travelers to get immunized for protection remains a struggle. Every year approximately 500,000 vaccinations for yellow fever are given to travelers or the military, who are going to areas where the virus is endemic. However, an estimated 8 million U.S. residents traveled to 42 countries with endemic yellow fever virus transmission in 2015, according to the CDC.

“Yellow fever virus can be exported by unimmunized travelers returning to countries where the virus is not endemic,” the CDC authors wrote. “Reports of yellow fever in at least 10 unimmunized returning U.S. and European travelers were recorded during 1970–2013.”

“It is also conceivable that yellow fever outbreaks may occur in the U.S. territories, just as the recent Zika epidemic reached Puerto Rico, causing a significant outbreak there and leading to thousands of travel-related cases,” Fauci wrote with his co-author.

While it is unlikely for yellow fever to sweep through the U.S., due in part to fewer mosquitoes, there is still a risk that unimmunized travellers could import the disease when they return from endemic regions.

“In an era of frequent international travel, any marked increase in domestic cases in Brazil raises the possibility of travel-related cases and local transmission in regions where yellow fever is not endemic,” wrote Fauci and his co-author wrote.