MYSTERY DISEASE KILLS 7 IN BRAZIL

The mayor of a small city is quarantining two neighborhoods where a mysterious illness has killed seven people and left 43 seriously ill, local media reported Tuesday. Luiz Barcelos de Vasconcelos, mayor of Japeri, a small municipality on the outskirts of Rio, said he was waiting for test results on blood samples sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta, before deciding whether to isolate the neighborhoods. The first victim was a 15-year-old boy who died on June 12, five days after he was hospitalized complaining of sharp head pains, the next six victims died between June and September. All except one of the victims lived in just two neighborhoods, both without running water. Symptoms of the disease include sharp muscle pains, headaches, fever, diarrhea and hemorrhaging. The majority of the deaths occurred less than five days after the symptoms first appear, Associated Press reports.