Measles causes alarm in Brazil

SAN PABLO, Brazil.- At least 744 people contracted measles as part of an epidemic linked to Venezuelan patients, the Brazilian Ministry of Health reported. The outbreak left four dead, including an indigenous child.

The total number of infected persons includes 67 Venezuelan and Brazilian natives. The organization Survival International has warned that the outbreak could devastate indigenous groups on both sides of the border between Venezuela and Brazil, which have little resistance to the disease.

According to the Ministry of Health, 444 cases of measles in the Amazon and 216 cases in Roraima are confirmed and "all are related to imports". "This has been proven by the genotype of the virus, which is the same as that circulating in Venezuela," said the ministry in a report published on its website

. and there are 2,689 cases in the search. Isolated cases have been identified in the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondonia and Rio de Janeiro.

According to the Ministry, Brazil is taking steps to prevent and block the disease by interrupting the transmission of the disease. outbreaks and prevent the establishment of sustained transmission. (DPA-Reuters)