You woke up a week ago feeling strange. You weren't sure what was wrong, but your body was full of pain, you felt hot to the touch, and you kept throwing up. Your mother told you to lie down and rest, hoping it was just a cold. After a few days, you started to feel better, well enough that you wanted to return to the river to see the trading ships arriving. Unfortunately, your symptoms have returned stronger and stronger: your fever has returned, accompanied by intense abdominal pain. pain, your mouth bleeds without injury, and every time you vomit it appears black in color. Plus, when you look in the mirror, your skin has gone from the tan color you've always been to a dull yellow shade. The doctor comes to examine you; he makes a lot of “tsk tsk” noises and rushes out of the room with a cloth over his face. The doctor mutters to your mother that he thinks you have Yellow Jack and that there's nothing more he can do, you're going to die. Your mother is crying uncontrollably but you can't react as another horrible pain in your head has you bent over. Soon, as you stop shaking and begin to relax, the sounds of the doctor and your mother fade into white noise and your surroundings begin to dull until you prove the doctor was right; another person fell victim to the infectious yellow fever virus. There is no definitive history or date of discovery, but it is assumed that yellow fever originated in Africa and was introduced to the Americas by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes "hitchhiking" on commercial ships and slavers. The first suspected outbreak occurred in 1648 in Yucatán. It's "raw" because early records of illnesses weren't thoroughly investigated or described, they could have been caused by one thing or another. There is... middle of article... The organization summed it up best by stating that "yellow fever is still considered a public health emergency of international concern" (Yellow Fever, WHO) . Works Cited Castro, Ivan. 100 Hispanics to Know. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2007. Print. Cefrey, Holly. Yellow fever. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2002. Print.Dickerson, James L. Yellow Fever: A Deadly Disease Ready to Kill Again. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006. Print. Murphy, Jim. An American Plague: The Terrifying True Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2003. Print.Shmaefsky, Brian R. Yellow Fever. New York, NY: Chelsea House, 2010. Print. “Yellow fever”. www.cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nd Web. November 28, 2011. “Yellow fever”. www.who.int/en. World Health Organization, nd Web. November 28. 2011.