Most severe outbreak

More than six million dengue cases in Brazil

The dengue viruses are transmitted by the yellow fever mosquito (pictured).(Bild: CDC/Lauren Bishop)

The most severe dengue outbreak in Brazil's history continues. Since the beginning of the year, more than six million confirmed and probable dengue virus infections have been registered in the South American country, according to the Ministry of Health.

In the previous largest epidemic in 2015, around 1.6 million dengue cases were counted in the entire calendar year. According to the data, a total of 4019 deaths due to dengue infection were confirmed.

Last year as a whole, there were 1179 deaths. A further 2837 suspected cases are currently being investigated. However, the data also shows that the disease peaked in March with more than 1.7 million cases and has been declining since then.

In April, the number remained high at almost 1.6 million cases - from May onwards, transmission slowed down with around 990,000 cases, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

Rain and high temperatures as triggers
The trigger for the increase is likely to have been the heavy rainfall and high temperatures in recent months. Under these conditions, the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti), which transmits the dengue virus, can develop particularly well.

Dengue fever - also known as "bone-breaking disease" because of the pain it causes - is widespread in the tropics and subtropics. However, not every infected person falls ill and the course of the disease is often mild.