immunization certificates demanded from visitors from Brazil

SAO PAULO – The health ministry says several countries are requesting that people travelling from Brazil be immunized against yellow fever amid the worst outbreak of the disease the country has seen in years.

The ministry says on its website that Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Cuba are demanding that people arriving in their countries from Brazil present an international certificate of yellow fever vaccination. The certificate was not required by these countries before the outbreak.

The latest figures from the health ministry show that 449 people have been infected with yellow fever and 144 have died.

Mosquitoes transmit yellow fever, which causes fever, body aches, vomiting and sometimes jaundice.