Uruguay's Public Health Ministry recommended Monday yellow fever
vaccinations for all those who plan to travel to Paraguay, and to
some jungle areas of Brazil.
The ministry said in a statement that it was waiting for more
information from the Paraguayan authorities and Pan-American Health
Organization officials about the national health emergency in
Paraguay sparked by the disease.
The high risk areas of Brazil include the most heavily wooded
parts of the states of Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Goias, Maranhao, Mato
Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Para, Rondonia, Roraima, Tocantins and
Minas Gerais.
Also mentioned are towns in the south of Piaui state, in the
west and south of Bahia, the north of Espiritu Santo, the northeast
of Sao Paulo and the west of the states of Parana, Santa Catarina
and Rio Grande do Sul.
However, the ministry said that coastal cities are not high risk
areas, naming Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro,
Sao Paulo, Salvador, Recife and Fortaleza specifically.
"The situation discussed must be considered in the
epidemiological context of Brazil's yellow fever virus presence,
which has not registered any urban cases since 1942," the statement
said. Since then, in Brazil, the virus has only spread in rural
areas or rainforest.
Paraguayan media have reported six deaths in recent days due to
yellow fever. But there is yet to be official confirmation of the
causes of the deaths.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2008)