the most internationally publicized health risk to travelers visiting to rio is dengue fever - gaining widespread media attention in light of rio's major events.

spread through mosquito bites, dengue is a viral infection that can cause very serious illnesses in those it infects, and in some rare cases may even be fatal.

lasting 4 to 6 days, dengue fever has a four strains producing similar symptoms - fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, aching body especially at the joints and behind the eyes.

aedes aegypti, the mosquito species that carries this disease,  is recognizable for the white spots on its body that demarcate it from other mosquitoes - dengue thrives in urban areas, and any place where there may be stagnant water, which is how it breeds.