Argentine Toba

Beating the odds: Sustained Chagas disease vector control in remote indigenous communities of the Argentine Chaco over a seven-year period

“…The main drivers for local movement were gaining better access to electricity, potable water, health care and education, better lands to cultivate [ 40 ], and cultural practices, such as dismantling a house after a family member passed away [ 66 ]. These mobility patterns are also consistent with ancestral practices: the Qom people originally included many semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer groups that built simple dwellings using available materials such as tree branches and animal skins [ 66 , 67 ]. Several developments at the onset of the 20th century forced them to settle down [ 67 ], which severely affected their lifestyle and housing characteristics.…”

“…These mobility patterns are also consistent with ancestral practices: the Qom people originally included many semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer groups that built simple dwellings using available materials such as tree branches and animal skins [ 66 , 67 ]. Several developments at the onset of the 20th century forced them to settle down [ 67 ], which severely affected their lifestyle and housing characteristics. We have also recorded a rural-to-peri-urban movement stream for the same reasons stated above combined with dwindling agriculture and local employment, leading to the creation of peri-urban slums within the municipality [ 68 ] and a strong dependency on welfare support.…”

Variation among populations in the immune protein composition of mother’s milk reflects subsistence pattern

“…Geographic proximity, however, is unlikely to fully explain the similarity in milk composition between these populations as they reside in different biomes with overlapping, but distinct, endemic pathogens [ 87 ]. The Tsimane live in the tropical lowlands while the Qom live in Gran Chaco region, which is characterized by dry shrubland vegetation, savannah grasslands, and semi-arid forests [ 58 , 88 , 89 ]. Although respiratory and gastrointestinal infections are common among both the Qom and Tsimane, populations living in tropical forests are particularly susceptible to helminth infections and Tsimane often have multiple, co-occurring parasitic infections [ 58 , 88 , 90 ].…”

“…A significant limitation in this study is that it is difficult to interpret the causes of variation in total antibody concentrations. For example, while the Qom had the highest average concentration of all milk acquired immune proteins, estimated infant mortality rates in the Qom (18.6 per 1000 live births) are lower than the Himba, Tsimane, and Nubri Tibetans [ 54 , 58 , 118 , 119 ]. One possible interpretation is that the Qom have greater exposure to pathogens than Himba, Tsimane or Nubri Tibetans, but this would seem to contradict what we know about these populations’ environments ( Table 2 ).…”

“…For example, the Qom (formerly Toba) people of Argentina were traditionally hunter-gatherers, but now live in government designated territories. Though foraging is still practiced in some rural territories, in peri-urban barrios, most food is purchased with governmental aid and supplemental income from men’s paid labor and women’s sales of artisanal crafts [ 58 ]. Diets tend to be monotonous and include calorie-dense food, such as fried dough, noodles and potatoes [ 48 , 59 ].…”