Report: Three More Monkeys Die from Yellow Fever Reported in Paraná State

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In a follow-up on the yellow fever situation in Paraná state, Brazil, on Wednesday, December 23rd, the Secretariat of Health of Paraná released the biweekly yellow fever bulletin with the record of three dead monkeys (epizootic yellow fever) confirmed in the municipalities of Cruz Machado, Honório Serpa and Palmas.

The epidemiological period, beginning in July, totals 87 notifications of epizootic diseases: 11 were confirmed as the death of monkeys infected by yellow fever; 32 were discarded; 35 are identified as indeterminate and 9 are under investigation.

During this period, Paraná did not register cases of yellow fever in humans. Of the 10 registered notifications, nine were discarded and one is under investigation.

“Although we have no cases of yellow fever in humans, we are on alert for the circulation of the virus due to confirmed monkey deaths. These animals do not transmit the disease; in the same way as man they are contaminated. That is why monkeys are considered sentinels and signalers of the presence of the virus ”, said the Secretary of Health of Paraná, Beto Preto.

The Department of Health recommends vaccination against yellow fever to the population. The vaccine is available in the entire public health network and those who are between 9 months of age and 59 years old and have never taken a dose should be vaccinated.

Aedes aegypti mosquito

The initial symptoms of yellow fever are: sudden onset fever lasting up to seven days, associated with headache, chills, nausea, vomiting, body pain and abdominal pain. These symptoms are often confused with those of other diseases such as leptospirosis, flu or dengue.

Yellow fever can progress rapidly, in about 10% of cases, to severe forms with jaundice (yellowing of the skin), severe abdominal pain, bleeding and kidney failure.

The effective way to prevent yellow fever is the vaccine. Since July 2018, all the municipalities of Paraná have become an area with vaccination recommendations against the disease caused by viral circulation.

The State Department of Health guides all municipalities to promote strategies of selective intensification of vaccination, with priority in the affected cities, and expanded regionally.

So far, vaccination coverage in Paraná is 71.28%, while the recommended goal is 95%. The percentage calculation takes into account only children under one year of age who received the vaccine from January to October of this year.