The MSF is reporting that the deaths occurred over a period of six months.

JOHANNESBURG - A medical activist group says nearly 300 people have died in the six-month outbreak of yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

It argues that vigilance and rapid response capacities are vital for fighting the acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by the same mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus.

The fever that gets its name from the jaundice that affects some patients kills half of those acutely infected.

To date 736 cases have been confirmed in Angola and 48 in DRC.

Since these outbreaks were reported, Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) has been supporting the Ministries of Health of both countries in treating patients and vaccinating people.

The World Health Organisation says that the outbreak does not currently constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

But MSF counters that vigilance and rapid response capacities are essential to prevent the outbreak from spreading further.