Yellow Fever

They said there had been 63 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness so far this year, up from seven in the whole of 2016.

Most of the cases have been in rural areas of Minas Gerais state, a Ministry of Health statement said.

The government has sent two million doses of yellow fever vaccines to the state.

The governor of Minas Gerais has declared a 180-day state of emergency.

What is yellow fever?

§  Caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes

“There is no Yellow Fever in the country,” Kase said.

But Kase has warned travellers to be wary of contracting the disease while travelling to other countries as efforts are underway by the international community to control the outbreak and prevent further spread of the fever.

Yellow Fever is a viral illness spread by the Aedes mosquito, the same mosquito that can spread other diseases such as dengue and Zika, according to the Secretary.