Biosecurity

US officials keep watchful eye on yellow fever outbreak in Brazil

An outbreak of yellow fever in rural Brazil is raising concerns that the disease could spread across borders to the US, like Zika, say two health experts writing in an essay published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

While the likelihood of yellow fever outbreaks in the US is low, "travel-related cases of yellow fever could occur, with brief periods of local transmission in warmer regions such as the Gulf Coast states," wrote Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and colleague Dr. Catharine Paules.

"In an era of frequent international travel, any marked increase in domestic cases in Brazil raises the possibility of travel-related cases," they wrote.