El uso de Sistemas de Información Geográfica - CDIA-EC ...

Summary
El uso de Sistemas de Información Geografica y Sensores Remotos (SR) en Salud Pública
Bogotá, Colombia, 27 al 30 de Marzo de 2006
Chagas disease in the Amazon region
José Rodrigues Coura
Department of Tropical Medicine, Oswaldo Cruz Institute – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Amazon region represents 44% of South America, 33% of world’s forests, 20%
of world’s water reserves and has one of the greatest biodiversity indexes.
The risks of Chagas disease in the Amazon region are: uncontrolled human
migrations from endemic areas to the Amazon, carrying T. cruzi-infected domestic
reservoirs and vectors; disorganized colonization and uncontrolled deforestation of
the region; presence of several species of wild mammals (marsupials, chiroptera,
rodents, edentates, carnivores and primates) infected with T. cruzi; existence of at
least 24 species of triatomines, most of them infected with T. cruzi; possible
adaptation of sylvatic triatomines to human dwellings in the Amazon region and
possible transposition of the domestic cycle of Chagas disease from endemic areas
to the Amazon (Coura et al 2002a; Dias et al 2002).
Chagas disease is emerging in the Amazon; several human acute cases have been
reported in the region (isolated cases and microepidemics). Seroepidemiologic
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