Brazil's Health Ministry warned Friday that 16 of the country's 27 states are at the risk of an outbreak of dengue fever in 2009, Xinhua reported. The epidemic has infected 48,600 people in the capital city of Rio de Janeiro so far this year. The ministry made the warning in a report based on a study of the estimated population of mosquito Aedes aegypti in Brazil, which transmits the virus of the dengue fever. The report highlighted two southern states: Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, where the epidemic has never occurred and their residents are consequently more susceptible to the virus. Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao met with officials of his ministry on Thursday to discuss ways of preventing and fighting the disease, which include the creation of a nationwide task force. The minister also expressed fears that local governments may disregard the risk of a new outbreak after the country successfully fights the current one and divert all their attention to the municipal elections in October 2008. Rio de Janeiro Governor Sergio Cabral said on Thursday that the worst phase of the outbreak has passed in the state, but the crisis still exists.
