HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - If you're planning to take a trip to Africa or South America this summer, you'll need a yellow fever vaccination. Although, there's one problem, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said American supplies of the vaccine are expected to run out this summer.
"Yellow fever virus is known as yellow fever because people turn yellow, that is, it causes liver disease and jaundice," said Dr. Scott Harris with the Alabama Department of Public Health.
It's not so common in North America, but its other countries you have to worry about.
"The yellow fever exists now in the wild in parts of the Amazon and South America and also in Africa," Harris said.
According to the CDC, symptoms of yellow fever usually begin three to six days after a bite from an infected mosquito. This is the same mosquito that carries the Zika virus.
"It's the only disease remaining in the world that some countries require you to be vaccinated against to go in and out of the country," Harris said.
Harris said the shortage is the result of a few different things-- one being recent outbreaks in Angola and Brazil. If you plan on traveling to a country with the virus, you need to act fast about looking for an available vaccine.
"They're going to need to start looking early and try to find access to a vaccine," Harris said. "There are yellow fever-approved centers throughout the country. You can find those on the CDC website, they have a list of all those."
The manufacturer of the only U.S.-licensed yellow fever vaccine expects it to be available again in mid-2018.