Dengue fever taxes hospitals in Rio

In Brazil, about 33,000 people in Rio de Janeiro state have contracted dengue fever, and 48 have died in what appears to be an epidemic of the disease, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. Already more people have died this year than in all of 2002, the last year Rio had a dengue epidemic, and the vast majority have been in the city, not rural areas. Overall, dengue is down throughout Brazil but is up significantly in Rio.