Public health officials in Brazil are working to stop an outbreak of yellow fever that has killed at least 40 people from becoming an epidemic and urged people in nine states on Thursday to seek vaccinations.
The Health Ministry said 70 cases of the fever and 40 deaths have been confirmed in the outbreak, centered in rural areas of the state of Minas Gerais, and another 47 deaths and 368 suspect cases are under investigation.
That is up from just seven cases last year and the highest number since 2003.
The call for people to get inoculated in nine out of Brazil's 26 states caused public health centers to run out of vaccines as residents of those states rushed to get a shot.
The outbreak roughly covers an area of western Minas Gerais that was hit by Brazil's worst environmental disaster last year when a tailings dam collapsed at the Samarco iron ore mine co-owned by BHP Billiton and Vale SA, polluting the Rio Doce river and heavily impacting the local ecosystem.