MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil yellow fever: Gov. has launched a vaccination campaign

A person is vaccinated against yellow fever in a public hospital in Brasilia

The Brazilian Government has launched a vaccination campaign after the health ministry confirmed that a man in the capital Brasilia died from yellow fever.

The Brazilian Government has launched a vaccination campaign after the health ministry confirmed that a man in the capital Brasilia died from yellow fever. Brazil's Health Secretariat confirmed that a man died in the capital, Brasilia, from yellow fever after spending the New Year's holidays in neighboring Goias state. Graco Carvalho Abubakir, 38, died Jan. 8 after spending four days at the intensive-care unit of a hospital in the capital, the Health Secretariat in Brasilia said on its Web site. Health officials say about 18 people from the city are now suspected of having the disease, but they insist there is no yellow fever epidemic. The Secretariat said it has vaccinated almost 560,000 people in Brasilia since Dec. 29, after residents started to panic when two monkeys at the city's municipal park died from the disease, raising fears of a resurgence of the urban form of yellow fever. The disease, caused by a virus that's endemic in Brazilian and African forests and transmitted by mosquitoes, is usually restricted to rural or jungle areas in the Amazon and midwestern Brazil. Goias state includes forest areas. In its jungle from, yellow fever occurs mostly in monkeys in Brazil's forests. Brazil hasn't had a case of urban yellow fever since 1942. Last year, five people died from the jungle form, down from 40 deaths in 2000. The most severe cases in humans may lead vital organs to stop functioning. The symptoms are high fever, nausea, muscle pain and vomiting. It is named for the yellowing of skin and eyes that follows liver failure.