Summers of 2017 and 2018. Due to low vaccination coverage, Brazil was faced with the two largest outbreaks of yellow fever in history: there were 1.150 cases and 407 deaths from 1960 to 2015, against 2.045 confirmations in humans and 677 deaths in July 2016 to May 2018. The record of primates affected by the virus also draws attention, with more than 2.400 cases of epizootics in the last two years.

The route traced by the virus shows that the pathogen began to claim victims in the North of the country, between 2014 and 2015, with subsequent expansion towards the East and South, reaching the Midwest between 2015 and 2016, and reaching the states of the Southeast region in mid-2016. The approach of summer brings risks of new cases, if the population does not comply with the immunization campaign of the Ministry of Health.

Yellow fever has been preventable through vaccination since the late 1930s. The vaccine is considered safe and is 95% to 99% effective.

Attentive to this public health problem, researchers from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/Fiocruz) dedicated themselves to a set of actions that contributed to the monitoring, diagnosis and surveillance of the condition. The most recent contributions are related to studies on the mapping of the complete genome of the virus and the route of dissemination of outbreaks in the country.

See below for recent contributions from IOC in yellow fever:

Research investigates spread of yellow fever outbreak in Brazil

Study decodes 62 viral genomes and confirms that cases in 2016 and 2017 were caused by the sylvatic cycle of the disease. Lineage of the pathogen that spread throughout the country originated in the North region

Collaborative study gathers data on the most recent outbreak of yellow fever in the country

Mapping of the complete genome of the virus was combined with the analysis of the origin, evolution and routes of dispersion of cases, in addition to the creation of three-dimensional models of the virus proteins

Vaccine: health, law and citizenship

In a video, researchers dedicated to investigating diseases that can be prevented by vaccination reinforce the importance of the population having their doses up to date. watch and share

Know the mosquitoes that can transmit yellow fever

Researchers explain habits, life cycle, forms of infection, prevention and possibility of re-urbanization of the disease. Watch the video

On the front line against yellow fever

Researchers and technicians from IOC capture mosquitoes in the district of Juiz de Fora (MG) and train health professionals in the region

Study maps the spread of the yellow fever virus in the country

Genetic analyzes of data from the last 60 years indicate that introductions of the modern strain of the virus in Brazil from neighboring countries are behind recent outbreaks in the Southeast and South regions

Yellow fever: study assesses urbanization potential

Research measures, in laboratory tests, the ability of Aedes mosquitoes from Rio de Janeiro, Manaus and Goiânia to transmit the virus. Scientists stress the importance of preventive measures

In search of yellow fever transmitters

Researchers and technicians analyze mosquitoes collected in Casimiro de Abreu, the municipality where the disease was first confirmed in the state of Rio de Janeiro

Yellow fever: Complete genome sequencing of virus associated with current outbreak

Analysis of samples obtained from monkeys identified alterations in the viral genome. Possible impacts on public health still need to be investigated.

Yellow fever: yesterday and today

From the eradication of the disease at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, to the production of the vaccine and the clinical aspects of the disease, specialists addressed the theme during the opening of the Academic Year of IOC