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By Mayo Clinic staffDiagnosing yellow fever based on signs and symptoms can be difficult because its early signs and symptoms can be easily confused with those of other diseases, such as malaria, typhoid, dengue fever and other viral hemorrhagic fevers. To diagnose your condition, your doctor will likely ask about your medical and travel history and order blood tests.
If you have yellow fever, your blood may reveal the virus itself. If not, blood tests known as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) also can detect antigens and antibodies specific to the virus. Results for these tests may take several days.
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