Rio De Janeiro(Brazil): A dengue epidemic has claimed at least 54 lives in Rio de Janeiro state since January, health officials said.

Hospitals have reported a total of 114 deaths from the mosquito-borne disease, but 60 of those cases are still being investigated, the officials said yesterday.

Brazilian Health Care Secretary Jose Noronha said that 1,200 soldiers from the army, air force and navy would be deployed next week to set up three field hospitals, while an additional 500 would spray insecticide and place poison in standing-water puddles to eliminate mosquitoes.

"The intensity of the epidemic has brought intolerable death tolls," Noronha told reporters after a meeting with armed forces commanders.

The majority of the confirmed deaths, 31,have been in the city of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil's biggest resort city - which has seen a 25 per cent drop in tourism asa result, the Brazilian Hotel Association said.

About half of the victims were children under the age of 13.

More than 43,000 people have contracted disease since January in Rio de Janeiro state nearly double the 25,107 cases reported in all of 2007. The state is home to 16 million people.

State health official Victor Berbara said the outbreak highlights the importance of fighting the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito all year - not just between November and May when most infections occur.

"If nothing is done, next year is going to be much worse," he told reporters.

Source : PTI