Rio De Janeiro, May 13 (IANS): At least 259 people have died from yellow fever in Brazil this year, especially in the southeast from the country, the government announced on Friday.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said that 259 deaths have been confirmed, another 47 are being investigated and 115 have been ruled out as being due to other causes.

The number of confirmed cases has risen to 756, while another 622 potential cases are being analyzed by health authorities.

The most affected states are Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo, both in the southeast of Brazil, with 488 and 234 confirmed cases respectively.

The disease is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same vector as Zika, dengue and chikungunya.

On Thursday, the Brazilian government declared the end of the national health emergency for the Zika virus, declared in November 2015. There has been a similar drop for dengue and chikungunya.

This has been attributed to an effective campaign to root out breeding grounds for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, conducted both by the government and the public.