PhotoSÃO PAULO — Hoping to stave off another deadly outbreak of yellow fever, Brazil’s government announced on Tuesday that it planned to vaccinate the entire country against the mosquito-borne virus by April 2019. The country of 208 million is grappling with the worst outbreak of yellow fever in decades. The disease, normally found in the Amazon River Basin, broke out of its usual pattern in early 2016 and started moving south and east toward the country’s largest cities, prompting the declaration of a public health emergency last year. Advertisement Continue reading the main storySome Brazilians panicked and began killing monkeys in urban parks in the mistaken belief that doing so would slow the spread of the virus. Even though mosquitoes transmit the virus, monkeys are often the first victims of yellow fever and a strong indicator of the presence of the virus.

Source: New York Times March 21, 2018 00:11 UTC