Yellow fever deaths climb to 60 in Brazil outbreak

The Brazilian government announced Friday that the number of confirmed deaths caused by a yellow fever outbreak has reached 60, while 87 more suspicious deaths are being investigated.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said that 53 of the deaths had come in the state of Minas Gerais, where the outbreak started before spreading to other states. Four people have died in Espirito Santo and three more in the state of Sao Paulo.

Since the start of the outbreak, 150 deaths were potentially attributed of yellow fever, 60 of which have been confirmed, 87 are still under investigation and three have been eliminated.

In total, 921 people have been suspected of being infected, 804 of which happened in Minas Gerais. 702 are being investigated, 161 have been confirmed and 58 have been ruled out.

The rise in the number of cases forced the government to dispatch over 8 million doses of vaccine to at-risk states to try and contain the crisis.

The disease is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also a vector for dengue, chikungunya and the Zika virus.

Source: ANTARA