The World Health Organization advised travelers to forested areas in Brazil to get yellow fever vaccinations as the number of confirmed deaths from the disease in the country climbed to five Tuesday.
Health authorities in the central Brazilian state of Goias said tests on a 41-year-old Spanish man and a 63-year-old Brazilian woman who both died last week showed the mosquito-borne disease was to blame.
The health secretary in the southern state of Parana, Gilberto Martin, said tests on a 47-year-old Brazilian man who also died last week showed he too succmbed to yellow fever.
Two Brazilian men, aged 28 and 35, had already been previously confirmed yellow fever fatalities, bringing the total so far to five.
In addition, a Brazilian woman who survived the illness was recovering in a hospital, while officials were examining at least 14 other suspected cases.
A health ministry spokesman told AFP the WHO recommendation for vaccinations was made at Brazil's request last week.
"What WHO is doing is carrying out a suggestion from Brazil before any more cases occur," he said.
The outbreak has sparked public panic, creating long lines at health clinics around the country, despite assurances from Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao that "there exists no risk of an epidemic."
The WHO warning is valid for the forested areas of inland Brazil that cover about three-quarters of the country, but which are well away from the tourist hotspots of Rio de Janeiro and other coastal destinations.
Yellow fever, an acute viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, has until now been confined to mostly rural areas inland. No cases had been reported in urban areas since 1942.
In Goias state, where most of the suspected cases come from, 1.5 million people have been inoculated. Another million have also been vaccinated in Brasilia, the neighboring state that is home to the capital.
The company making the yellow fever vaccine for Brazil, Fiocruz, said it had been asked by the government to step up production to make a total 30 million doses this year.
The number of yellow fever cases in Brazil has fluctuated between 15 and 40 over the past dozen years -- with the exception of 2000 and 2003, when 85 and 64 cases were recorded, respectively, according to official figures.
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AFP 152350 GMT 01 08
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