Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

_|NYT: Mystery Disease Kills Dozens in Venezuela |_

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • _|NYT: Mystery Disease Kills Dozens in Venezuela |_

    Mystery Disease Kills Dozens in Venezuela

    By SIMON ROMERO
    Published: August 6, 2008

    CARACAS, Venezuela ?

    A mystery disease has killed dozens of Warao Indians in recent months in a remote area of northeastern Venezuela, according to indigenous leaders and researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, who informed health officials here of the outbreak on Wednesday.

    At least 38 people have died, including 16 since the start of June, said Charles Briggs, an anthropologist at Berkeley, and Dr. Clara Mantini-Briggs, a medical researcher there.

    They are a husband-and-wife team known for their research on a cholera outbreak that killed 500 people in Venezuela in the early 1990s.

    Preliminary studies of the latest outbreak indicate that it may be a type of infectious rabies transmitted by bites from bats, the researchers said.

    The symptoms, which last three to six weeks, include partial paralysis, convulsions and an extreme fear of water, they said, and those who die become rigid just before death. The disease is believed to be fatal in most cases.

    ?The authorities must investigate this outbreak with extreme urgency,? said Dr. Mantini-Briggs, a Venezuelan public health expert who has advised President Hugo Ch?vez?s government on policies to combat dengue fever.

    ?Fear about the disease has intensified among the Warao while a preventative response is needed now.?

    The disease is found in the swampy Delta Amacuro, near the border with Guyana.

    The state is inhabited largely by Warao Indians, a nomadic indigenous group said to number more than 20,000.

    Recently, many animals in the area have died, the researchers said, but no correlation has been established between those deaths and the disease.

    Warao leaders, accompanied by the researchers, took photos and written testimonies documenting the disease to the Health Ministry here on Wednesday for a meeting with government epidemiologists. But they were kept waiting for several hours.

    ?We traveled by bus 16 hours to Caracas to make the authorities aware of the situation with the hope of getting some response,? said Norvelis G?mez, a Warao paramedic who was one of four community leaders in the group.

    ?And we are met with disrespect on every level, as if the deaths of indigenous people are not even worth noting.?

    Framing their concerns within the polarizing world of Venezuelan politics, in which criticism of the government is often considered tantamount to betrayal, the Warao leaders and the Berkeley researchers emphasized that they all supported Mr. Ch?vez?s policies and that their intent was not to smear his government.

    ?All we request is for authorities to respond to this disease as they would if it occurred in a rich district of Caracas,? said Enrique Moraleda, a Warao leader in Mr. Ch?vez?s United Socialist Party who was part of the group.

    The group was allowed to meet with the government epidemiologists on Wednesday evening, and members said officials promised them that the disease would be investigated as soon as possible.
    -

    -------

  • #2
    Re: _|NYT: Mystery Disease Kills Dozens in Venezuela |_

    RABIES, HUMAN, VAMPIRE BATS - VENEZUELA: SUSPECTED
    **************************************************
    A ProMED-mail post
    <http://www.promedmail.org>
    ProMED-mail is a program of the
    International Society for Infectious Diseases
    <http://www.isid.org>

    Date: Wed 6 Aug 2008
    Source: The New York Times [edited]
    <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/world/americas/07venez.html?ref=world>


    A mystery disease has killed dozens of Warao Indians in recent months
    in a remote area of northeastern Venezuela, according to indigenous
    leaders and researchers from the University of California at
    Berkeley, who informed health officials here of the outbreak on
    Wednesday [6 Aug 2008].

    At least 38 people have died, including 16 since the start of June
    [2008], said Charles Briggs, an anthropologist at Berkeley, and Dr
    Clara Mantini-Briggs, a medical researcher there. They are a
    husband-and-wife team known for their research on a cholera outbreak
    that killed 500 people in Venezuela in the early 1990s.

    Preliminary studies of the latest outbreak indicate that it may be a
    type of infectious rabies transmitted by bites from bats, the
    researchers said. The symptoms, which last 3 to 6 weeks, include
    partial paralysis, convulsions, and an extreme fear of water, they
    said, and those who die become rigid just before death. The disease
    is believed to be fatal in most cases.

    "The authorities must investigate this outbreak with extreme
    urgency," said Dr Mantini-Briggs, a Venezuelan public health expert
    who has advised President Hugo Chavez's government on policies to
    combat dengue fever. "Fear about the disease has intensified among
    the Warao while a preventative response is needed now."

    [Byline: Simon Romero]

    --
    Communicated by:
    ProMED-mail
    <promed@promedmail.org>

    [The signs given here are compatible with rabies. It is possible that
    rabies virus is being transmitted there by vampire bats, most likely
    _Desmodus rotundus_. Attacks by these bats on humans are uncommon,
    but does occur (for an example of human rabies from bites by rabies
    virus infected vampire bats in eastern, lowland Peru recently, see
    ProMED-mail archive no. 20050120.0193). If these are rabies cases of
    vampire bat origin, it is curious that no rabies cases in horses or
    cattle are mentioned, since vampire bats prefer to feed on them if
    they are present, nor are bat bites on the patients mentioned, which
    would be obvious.

    ProMED-mail would appreciate receiving additional information
    concerning this outbreak as it becomes available.

    An image of _Desmodus rotundus_ can be accessed at
    <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/mzm2/72.mr2.jpg/medium.jpg>

    A map of Venezuela can be accessed at
    <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/venezuela.gif>. - Mod.TY]


    [see also:
    2007
    ----
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Peru (02) 20070131.0395
    Rabies, human, vampire bat - Peru 20070123.0299
    2005
    ----
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Brazil (MA)(04) 20051110.3287
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Brazil (MA)(03) 20051102.3202
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Brazil (MA)(02) 20051027.3133
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Brazil (MA) 20051024.3100
    Rabies, humans, vampire bats - Brazil (Para) 20050615.1684
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Peru (03): discussion 20050121.0212
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Peru (02): discussion 20050120.0193
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Peru 20050118.0170
    2004
    ----
    Rabies, humans, vampire bats - Brazil (Para) (05) 20040527.1428
    Rabies, humans, vampire bats - Brazil (Para) (04) 20040522.1378
    Rabies, humans, vampire bats - Brazil (Para) (03) 20040520.1349
    Rabies, humans, vampire bats - Brazil (Para)(02) 20040417.1070
    Rabies, humans, vampire bats - Brazil (Para) 20040403.0914
    2002
    ----
    Rabies, human, vampire bats - Panama 20020824.5134
    1997
    ----
    Rabies vaccine, vampire bats (02) 19970824.1764
    Rabies vaccine, vampire bats: RFI 19970819.1745]
    ...................................mpp/ty/mj/mpp
    -

    -------

    Comment

    Working...
    X