"BRASILIA - Dengue fever has surged in Brazil's hot rainy season, forcing health authorities to take emergency measures and start mass vaccination against the mosquito-borne illness.

In the first five weeks of this year 364,855 cases of infection have been reported, the Health Ministry said, four times more than dengue cases in the same period of 2023.

The rapid spread of dengue has caused 40 confirmed deaths, the ministry said, and a further 265 are being investigated."

Ricardo Brito and Anthony Boadle report for Reuters February 7, 2024. [2]