Abbreviation: PCR, polymerase chain reaction; RT-qPCR, reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction; YFV, yellow fever virus; NS5, protein of the viral polyprotein, it is the largest and the most highly conserved among the flaviviral proteins; 17DD, strain used to yellow fever vaccine; YF, yellow fever; RNA, ribonucleic acid; C, capsid protein; prM/M, membrane protein; E, envelope protein; NS, nonstructural protein; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid; DL, detection limit; QL, quantification limit; ANVISA, Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency; CV, coefficient of variation; RNAse P, human constitutive gene; Ct, cycle threshold; EXO IPC, exogenous internal positive control; PFU, plaque former unit; FDA, food and drug administration agency; JEV, japanese encephalitis virus; DENV, dengue virus; MuV, mumps virus; MV, measles virus; MOI, multiplicity of infection; WNV, West Nile VirusThe development and production of viral vaccines, in general, involve several steps that need the monitoring of viral load throughout the entire process. Applying a 2-step quantitative reverse transcription real time PCR assay (RT-qPCR), viral load can be measured and monitored in a few hours. In this context, the development, standardization and validation of a RT-qPCR test to quickly and efficiently quantify yellow fever virus (YFV) in all stages of vaccine production are extremely important. To serve this purpose we used a plasmid construction containing the NS5 region from 17DD YFV to generate the standard curve and to evaluate parameters such as linearity, precision and specificity against other flavivirus. Furthermore, we defined the limits of detection as 25 copies/reaction, and quantification as 100 copies/reaction for the test. To ensure the quality of the method, reference controls were established in order to avoid false negative results. The qRT-PCR technique based on the use of TaqMan probes herein standardized proved to be effective for determining yellow fever viral load both in vivo and in vitro, thus becoming a very important tool to assure the quality control for vaccine production and evaluation of viremia after vaccination or YF disease.