Brazil Runs No Risk of Smallpox Epidemic, Authorities Say

Brazil is not running the risk of a smallpox epidemic, according to Jarbas Barbosa, secretary of Health Inspection in the Ministry of Health.

Four cases were reported recently in the states of Santa Catarina and São Paulo. According to the secretary, the disease was transmitted by a Brazilian surfer, who caught smallpox in the Maldive Islands, in Asia.


Barbosa informed that smallpox vaccine coverage in Brazil is high, which eliminates the risk of an epidemic.


“If we take preventive actions immediately, such as vaccinating everyone who had contact with the surfer, there is no risk of an epidemic. We have good vaccine coverage in Brazil, and every five years we vaccinate all children five years old or under,” he affirms.


Barbosa guaranteed that the smallpox vaccine is effective and secure and is provided free to the population at health posts.


In 1997 Brazil suffered a smallpox epidemic involving over 60 thousand cases and 53 deaths. Health officials took four months to detect the disease, which was introduced by Italian tourists, and a year and a half to control the epidemic, the secretary of Health Inspection informs.


Since 2000 there have been no cases of transmission in Brazilian territory, but, since smallpox epidemics still exist in every continent except the Americas, it is important to continue surveillance and vaccination campaigns, since there is always the possibility of a foreign tourist or immigrant arriving in the country with the infection.


Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Steel in Bulk Production Grows 7% in Brazil

The production of steel in bulk in Brazil was 3.14 million tons in August, ...

Brazil’s Varig Bought for US$ 24 Million. 8000 Employees Get the Ax.

It seems that the name Varig will survive after all. The moribund airline company ...

Despite Red Tape and High Taxes Brazil Makes the Case to Draw Foreign Investors

Brazil should attract more foreign investment in coming years. The statement was made by the ...

Brazil’s Lula Chastises the US and EU for not Doing Enough for Poorer Countries

Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, ahead of this week's G8 meeting in ...

Brazilian Indians Once Again Promote Invasion to Make a Point

About 300 Tupinikim and Guarani Indians from Brazil, last week, occupied Portocel, a port ...

Yankee Samba School

California’s Cheremoya Samba School is both an oddity and pleasant surprise: the Escola de ...

Brazil Ready to Resettle Farmers Living in Indian Reservation

Around 97% of the non-indigenous families that occupy parts of the Raposa Serra do ...

Ahmadinejad Is on His Way to Brazil. Rio Protests, Lula Defends

About 1,000 people gathered this Sunday morning in Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, ...

Brazilians Flying 17% More

The passenger movement in Brazilian airports grew 16.84% in the first half of this ...

The Ball Is Now on Honduras’s Court, Says Brazil

The Brazilian government does not have diplomatic relations with Honduras because of the coup ...

WordPress database error: [Table './brazzil3_live/wp_wfHits' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `wp_wfHits`