Brazil vaccinates in 18 states following yellow fever cases

Brazil vaccinates in 18 states following yellow fever cases

Brazil's Ministry of Health is carrying out vaccinations against yellow fever in 18 states following two human cases in Brasilia, local media reported Tuesday.
A 38-year-old man was taken to hospital in Brasilia last week, suffering from acute kidney failure. Doctors confirmed he was suffering from yellow fever.
Suspicions were raised late December when monkeys died of the disease in a national park in the federal capital.
The government's National Health Surveillance Agency vaccinated all citizens and visitors in Brasilia as well as in the neighboring state of Goias, where the patient had spent New Year's Eve.
However, because another case was tracked in the region, the agency extended vaccinations to 16 further states, including all those in northern and mid-western Brazil, as well as the states of Bahia, Maranhao and Piaui in the northeast, Santa Catarina in the south, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo in the southeast, and the western region of Sao Paulo state.
Any person planning to visit the areas listed by the government must take the vaccine 10 days before arrival.
Over the past 12 years, 349 cases of the disease have been reported in Brazil, leading to 161 deaths. The cases were mainly in the rainforest region.