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RIO DE JANEIRO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- An outbreak of yellow fever continues to advance over Brazil's southeastern region, with Rio de Janeiro state announcing on Monday the sixth case in the state.
The case was registered in the small town of Sao Fidelis, in the state's northern area. It was the first case of yellow fever to be registered outside the town of Casimiro de Abreu.
The two municipalities are not close. According to the local authorities, the Sao Fidelis patient was infected with the disease in another location, bordering the state of Minas Gerais, which has been the main focus of the outbreak.
The outbreak of yellow fever has caused concerns from the Brazilian authorities. A latest national report, which was released last week, showed 492 confirmed cases were all in the four states of the southeastern region -- the states of Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Most cases occurred in Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo, while the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, which have the most populated cities in Brazil, have so far registered only a handful of cases.
In Rio, the capital city of Rio de Janeiro state, the government started a full vaccination campaign earlier in the day, aiming to inoculate over one million residents against the disease.
Espirito Santo state, which borders both Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, also started a full-scale vaccination campaign.
Though no cases have been confirmed outside of the southeastern states up till now, most Brazilian states are now offering the vaccine, though in some of states the offer is restricted to regions where the risk of infection is higher.
