Physical Wellness

Brazil Yellow Fever Possibly Came From Mokeys

By Abbie Kraft | Update Date: Feb 21, 2017 08:20 AM EST

Yellow fever outbreak took over Brazil which affected thousands of residents. As of the latest update in regards to the disease, it was confirmed that yellow fever that plagued Brazil possibly came from monkeys.

Thousands of monkeys were found dead in Brazil's forest which was then followed by a series of people getting sick and some were even found dead. NPR reported that Brazilians were once forced to evacuate after yellow fever hit their land in the 1940's. A mass vaccination took place as health care officials strive to eliminate the virus.

It's been two months after the first yellow virus case was confirmed. People living in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil were hit by the virus last December. As of this date, the Brazilian Ministry of Health already confirmed more than 1,000 suspected cases of yellow fever among Brazil's residents.

Anna Durbin, a professor of international health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins opens up about the dangers that accompany the yellow fever which rampantly spread in the area. Durbin pointed out that only a few cases would surface concerning yellow fever, but the one that recently took place in Brazil turned out to be more alarming.

"What we are starting to see now is a larger number of cases," Durbin stated. "And the concern is it could spread to a city and you'd have urban yellow fever, which they haven't really had in South America in something like 50 years."

CBC also added that Brazil's recent yellow fever case is one of the wort outbreaks in decades. It was suspected that the widespread was caused by howler monkey were in more than 600 of them were found dead in Brazil's Atlantic forest. Sergio Lucena mentioned that the number of monkeys that were hit by the outbreak continually increase making the case more alarming.

Monkeys are said to be more suitable to the disease due to their nature, their habitat and food supply. Researchers are still trying to confirm the root cause of the outbreak but they're already coming to a lead wherein it was mentioned that yellow fever that plagued Brazil possibly came from monkeys.

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