Discovery of a new focus of human onchocerciasis in central Brazil

✍ Scribed by M. Maia-Herzog; A.J. Shelley; J.E. Bradley; A.P.A.Luna Dias; R.H.S. Calvão; C. Lowry; M. Camargo; J.M. Rubio; R.J. Post; G.E. Coelho

• Book ID: 104164975
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 669 KB
• Volume: 93
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0035-9203
• DOI: 10.1016/s0035-9203(99)90005-6

✦ Synopsis

An autochthonous case of human onchocerciasis was reported 13 years ago in the town of Minaqu, northern Goiis (Brazil), but a subsequent survey of the population using the traditional technique of examining skin biopsies with the light microscope failed to detect other cases. Recent surveys using more sensitive diagnostic techniques (serodiagnosis, DNAprobes, Mazzotti test) that are detailed in this paper revealed the presence of other cases of the disease in MinaGu, the nearby town of Formoso and at the Buracao gold mine near Paran& The data show that transmission of the disease has occurred to local people living in town and on farms and that gold miners (garimpeiros) are a likely source of infection.