Dengue fever in Brazil - weekly summary

The following states and municipalities are reporting continued transmission of the dengue fever virus;

• Minas Gerais - 44,000 cases; 16 deaths; Belo Horizonte and Governador Valadares affected
• Sao Paulo - Araraquara (246 cases in one week); Osvaldo Cruz (1 death); Ribeirão Preto (death 9 year old child)
• Paraná - more than 34,000 cases, 40 deaths; 301 out of 399 municipalites have high levels of transmission, including Paranaguá, Foz do Iguaçu, Santa Helena, Medianeira, Jardim Olinda, Santo Antônio do Caiuá, Cambé and São Sebastião da Amoreira.
• Santa Catarina - 23 municipalities affected: Balneário Camboriú, Bom Jesus, Caibi, Chapecó, Coronel Freitas, Descanso, Florianópolis, Guaraciaba, Guatambu, Itajaí, Itapema, Itapoá, Joinville, Maravilha, Modelo, Palmitos, Pinhalzinho, São José do Cedro, São Lourenço do Oeste, São Miguel do Oeste, Saudades, Serra Alta and Xanxerê.
• Acre -
• Ceará - 116 municipalities affected; 14 deaths; affected municipalities include Caucaia, Crato, Fortaleza, Fortim, Icó, Itapajé, Maracanaú and Paraipaba.
• Amazonas - cases doubled compared to last year
• Paraíba - 2 deaths
• Rio Grande do Norte - second highest number of cases in nation, almost 30,000 cases; capital city Natal affected

Advice

Dengue fever virus transmission is widespread across most of Brazil. The risk of exposure for travellers will vary from place to place.

The absence of reports form other states does not mean that there is no dengue fever transmission there. All travellers to areas where the dengue fever virus is active can reduce their risk of exposure by taking all necessary precautions to avoid mosquito bites. Many persons with dengue fever do not seek medical care and are not reported to health authorities. There may be many more cases in the community than the reports indicate.