Brazilian football star Ronaldo, not the greasy Portuguese of the same name, has contracted the potentially deadly disease dengue fever while on holiday in his homeland.
The larger than life (literally) former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid star contracted the mosquito-borne disease after being bitten by one of the pesky insects while on a break in the north-eastern state of Bahia over the Christmas.
Ronaldo alerted his followers to his ailment with a tweet yesterday that read: “Damn mosquito”, before tweeting a picture of himself hooked up to a drip (see below) with the message: “Good morning to you. Started the year with dengue!”
Pic via Twitter/@ClaroRonaldo
Dengue fever is potentially fatal, although in the vast majority of cases it clears itself up in a couple of weeks. Symptoms include fever, headaches and muscle pain, but judging by Ronaldo’s most recent tweets, he seemed to be coping just fine.
“Thank you for caring. I’m in recovery. I was discharged last night. Now is to treat and rest to get well soon!” he said.
Not an ideal way to start the New Year then, but judging by the Brazilian legend’s rather portly physique in recent months, it would be perhaps no harm if he shed a few pounds during the recovery process.
