By IANS
Brasilia : The toll from yellow fever has risen to seven in Brazil, Spanish news agency EFE reported Friday.
A farmer, whose age and name were not released, was the seventh victim to die from yellow fever out of the 10 confirmed cases this year.
The man had been hospitalised in Brasilia after showing symptoms of the disease. He was living in the Luziania city in Goias state, the epicentre of the outbreak, a health official said.
Health officials identified the sixth victim Wednesday, Antonio Rates dos Santos, 44, who succumbed to the disease Tuesday in Taguatinga.
The health ministry said 29 suspected cases of yellow fever had been examined in 2008, of which seven were ruled out and 10 confirmed with the tropical disease.
Officials have requested people to stay calm, as scores of people lined up in cities across the country for immunisation. Officials claimed the yellow fever has been eradicated from urban areas since 1942.
According to the health ministry, nearly 349 cases have been reported in the past 12 years, while more than 160 people have been killed. At first, the disease was transmitted to humans from primates in rural areas, it said.
Officials said only those people who visited the high-risk areas will be required to be vaccinated.
In Rio de Janeiro, people were seen standing in long queues outside hospitals waiting to be vaccinated. In other cities some hospitals have run out of the vaccine, media reports said.
Meanwhile, Paraguay and Uruguay have asked their authorities to remain alert of the outbreak on the borders. Argentina has also drawn up plans to tackle the disease.