Brazil dealing with dengue outbreak

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 26 (UPI) -- Brazil is sending 600 healthcare workers to help at already overburdened hospitals in Rio de Janeiro state amid an outbreak of dengue fever.

The government is also sending hundreds more to spray insecticide in areas where outbreaks of the disease are most prevalent, O Globo reported Tuesday.

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 the epidemic.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne illness that produces severe flu-like symptoms and can be fatal.