Since the yellow fever outbreak started in Dec. 2016, a total of 1336 cases of yellow fever infection (292 confirmed, 920 suspected, and 124 discarded), including 215 deaths (101 confirmed, 109 suspected, 5 discarded), have been detected in six states (Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo, and Tocantins).

Image/CAMERAGE
Image/CAMERAGE

The estimated case fatality rate is 35% for confirmed cases and 12% for suspected cases. To date, the majority (86%) of the confirmed cases are men and of which, approximately 81% are aged between 21 and 60 years.

In addition, a total of 883 epizootics of non-human primates (NHP) have been reported, of which 337 were confirmed for yellow fever by laboratory confirmation or epidemiological link. Epizootics have been reported from the Federal District and in Alagoas, Bahia, Goiás, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe, and Tocantins.

Brazilian health authorities at the federal, state, and municipal levels are implementing several measures to respond to the outbreak, including:

  • The Ministry of Health (MoH) are assisting state and municipal health secretaries with human, vector and epizootic surveillance, strengthening of health care services, and risk communication.
  • Vector control activities including environmental sanitation and spatial application of insecticide are being conducted alongside surveys to assess infestation rates for Aedes using the Larval Index Rapid Aedes assay (LIRAa).
  • National reference centers including Evandro Chagas Institute in Belem do Para and FioCruz in Rio de Janeiro are supporting field operations concerning human and NHP case confirmation and entomological investigations.
  • House-to-house and fixed post immunization campaigns are being conducted in municipalities at risk.
  • A cumulative total of 12.5 million doses of the yellow fever vaccine have been distributed by the MoH to Minas Gerais (5.5 million), Espírito Santo (2.5 million), São Paulo (2.75 million), Bahia (900 000), and Rio de Janeiro (850 000).

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