Yellow Fever Encroaches Megacities, Straining Global Vaccine Supply
Brazil has launched a massive vaccination campaign to protect against a disease that has killed hundreds of people. But it's facing huge challenges, including a shortage of the yellow fever vaccine.
For the first time ever, Brazil is attempting a nationwide immunization campaign against yellow fever.
An ongoing outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease has killed hundreds of people in parts of Brazil where yellow fever traditionally wasn't considered a threat and most residents aren't vaccinated against it.
"We can call this the biggest outbreak in modern times," says Dr. Mauricio Lacerda Nogueira, the president of the Brazil Society for Virology. "Since the middle of the 20th century we never had an outbreak of this size."
In a normal year, a few dozen people at most get sick with yellow fever in South America's largest nation. But since 2016 Brazil has confirmed more than 1,900 cases and recorded at least 590
