Military officials say part of the efforts by the country's armed forces will include setting up field hospitals, O Globo TV reported Saturday.

Nearly 50 people have died in this year's outbreak, with at least 36,000 people contracting the potentially deadly disease.

This week, Brazilian health officials said the government would create a crisis center to deal with an epidemic of dengue fever.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne illness that causes severe flu-like symptoms in most cases, though it can be fatal.