Brazilian city declares health emergency due to dengue fever outbreak

"Municipal authorities in Campo Grande, the capital of the southwestern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, on Monday declared a health emergency due to a serious outbreak of dengue fever," Fox News Latino reports. "The decree, signed by Mayor Alcides Bernal, says that the city needs to take 'urgent' measures to control the epidemic," the news service notes (1/22). "Under the state of emergency, city authorities will be able to hire extra workers and purchase medicine with much more ease," the Global Dispatch writes, adding, "Mayor Bernal told Brazilian media that 'the numbers show that this epidemic is the largest' ever experienced in Campo Grande, a city of nearly 800,000 people" (1/22). "The city ... has registered about 300 suspected cases of dengue fever per day since the start of 2013, with a total of 7,697 cases reported between December 31, 2012, and January 17, according to the mayor's office," Xinhua/People's Daily reports (1/21).