Brazil reports 5th dengue death; 53,000 infected

    The latest death occurred in Campo Garnde, the capital city of the southern state of Mato Grosso.

    Some 53,000 people have been infected across Brazil in the first two months of this year, up 17 percent on the same period of last year.

    Mato Grosso was the worst-hit province, accounting for about 53percent of all reported cases.

    The country's southeast area has reported 64 percent of the overall dengue cases. The Brazilian government has formally recognized that the region faces an epidemic and has allocated an extra 300,000 U.S. dollars to Mato Grosso to fight the infection.

2007-03-03