It’s hard to believe that after reporting 1,649,008 dengue fever cases and 863 deaths in 2015 that during the first weeks of 2016, the country is seeing a 50 percent increase in cases, which has also prompted concerns of the Zika virus threat.

Image/CIA
Image/CIA

On Friday, the Brazil Health Ministry reported 74,000 “probable” cases of dengue from Jan. 3 to Jan. 23 – an increase of almost 50 percent from the same period in January 2015.

Experts say this demonstrates an inefficiency in mosquito control and concerns of a Zika explosion, which some estimates put as high as 1.5 million cases to date.

The country is making efforts to quell the spread by deploying the military to visit homes and educate the public, in addition to eradicating mosquito breeding areas.

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