BRASILIA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Ministry of Health on Wednesday declared an end to the outbreak of yellow fever, which began last December, saying that no cases have been reported since June.
According to the ministry's latest bulletin, 777 cases of yellow fever were confirmed from December 2016 to August 2017, leading to 261 deaths.
Another 2,270 potential cases were ruled out and 213 remain under investigation, while 307 cases were determined to be inconclusive.
Brazil's southeast region saw an overwhelming majority of the cases, with 764 out of 777.
Despite announcing an end to the outbreak, the Ministry of Health highlighted the importance of keeping up with preventive actions and to broaden vaccinations to prevent any new cases.
Based on World Health Organization recommendations, Brazil has adopted a vaccination scheme where one dose lasts a person their entire lives.
This year, the government has sent 36.7 million doses of the vaccine nationwide in an effort to stop the outbreak.
Five states saw the bulk of this reinforcement, including Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Espirito Santo and Bahia.
The government also said that important advances had been made to detect the virus' circulation as early as possible and to take steps to wipe out the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the disease's main carrier.
The ministry said that yellow fever outbreaks usually take place in six or seven-year cycles, with the last one had seen in 2009.
Though an outbreak is not expected next year, the government is still to produce 10 million more doses of the vaccine each month as a precaution.
Yellow fever is only transmitted by mosquito bites and cannot be transmitted from person to person.
