Brazil is in the grip of a full-blown outbreak of dengue fever with well over 400,000 cases reported and over 17 fatalities.
Dengue fever is a disease that usually causes severe headaches and muscle pains along with high fevers. Like malaria, it is usually transmitted by mosquito bites. Unusually heavy rains in parts of Brazil increased the number of mosquitos leading to the outbreak.
Efforts are underway to reduce the pools of stagnating water which the mosquito breed in, but there is still no end in sight to the disease outbreak.
Sources:
One-in-ten in Rio has dengue. The BBC, February 26, 2002.
Dengue fever grips Rio. The BBC, February 27, 2002.