Rio De Janeiro: An outburst of dengue has killed at least 47 people - and perhaps twice that - in Rio de Janeiro state this year, officials has said, announcing a hot spot in a hemispheric outbreak that sickened nearly 1 million people in 2007.

State officials said 51 cases are being reported every hour as the outbreak strains public hospitals capacity.

"What we see today in Rio de Janeiro is a catastrophe," said Edmilson Migovski, a professor of infectious diseases at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

"The death toll is rising because the virus is becoming more virulent, and at the same time people who were infected once are getting infected again." he said yesterday.

Brazil had more than half of the 900,782 cases of dengue in the Americas last year, according to the Pan American Health Organisation. Of the hemisphere's 317 deaths, 158 came in Brazil, including 31 in Rio state.

But while federal officials say overall numbers were down in early 2008,they have jumped in Rio state. State officials say dengue has already killed 47 people, and is suspected of killing another 49 whose deaths are under investigation. The state, which has 16 million inhabitants, has seen more than 32,000 dengue cases this year, officials said.

"I am treating it as an epidemic because the number of cases is extremely high," state Health Secretary Sergio Cortes said.
Source : PTI