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Rio de Janeiro: The Brazilian metropolis receives a particularly large number of visitors in February during Carnival
Photo: Vicente Barcelo Varona / Design Pics / IMAGO
Rio de Janeiro has declared a public health emergency due to an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever.
Since the beginning of the year, the municipality has recorded more than 10,000 cases. This means that in just a few weeks, almost half of the number of sick cases that were registered in the entire year of 2023 has been reached: 23,000.
The city hall of the Brazilian metropolis has now announced that it will open care centers, set up an emergency operations center and reserve a certain number of hospital beds for those affected by the fever. In addition, special carts are supposed to distribute an insecticide into the air.
So far, health authorities have counted 15 confirmed deaths
Rio de Janeiro is not alone in the emergency. Numerous regions in Brazil are currently experiencing a serious outbreak of fever - in addition to Rio de Janeiro, the states of Acre, Minas Gerais and Goiás as well as the capital district have declared a state of emergency.
In the first four weeks of the year, almost 220,000 probable cases were registered in the South American country, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. That is more than three times as many cases compared to the same period a year earlier. In addition, the health authorities have counted 15 confirmed deaths so far.
The heavy rains and high temperatures of the past few months are likely to be the trigger for the sharp increase. The yellow fever mosquito, which transmits the dengue fever viruses, can develop particularly well under these conditions.
Dengue fever is widespread in the tropics and subtropics. Because of the pain, it is sometimes called “bone-breaker disease,” but the course is often mild and not everyone infected gets sick.
A vaccination campaign with a new vaccine against dengue fever is scheduled to begin in Brazil in February.
spr/AP/dpa