COVID-19 outbreaks among isolated Amazonian indigenous people, Ecuador

Henriquez-Trujillo, Aquiles R.; Ortíz-Prado, Esteban; Rivera-Olivero, Ismar A.; Nenquimo, Nemonte; Tapia, Andrés; Anderson, Mitchell; Lozada, Tannya; García-Bereguiaín, Miguel Angel

doi:10.2471/blt.20.283028

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was terrific worldwide, but rural communities and ethnic minorities like the Afro-Ecuadorian people from Esmeraldas were even more exposed and in risk of having severe consequences from COVID-19 outbreaks during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. As demonstrated by other studies and ours, the conditions imposed by climate and poverty at rural settings in the Ecuadorian Coastal and Amazonian Regions make those communities prone to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 ( 27 , 29 – 35 ), which remarks the necessity of the optimal implementation of control and prevention strategies in these neglected territories.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Sustained COVID-19 community transmission and potential super spreading events at neglected afro-ecuadorian communities assessed by massive RT-qPCR and serological testing of community dwelling population

et al. 2022

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BackgroundNeglected ethnic minorities from underserved rural populations in Latin America are highly vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to poor health infrastructure and limited access to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnosis. Esmeraldas is a mainly rural province of the Coastal Region of Ecuador characterized by a high presence of Afro-Ecuadorian population living under poverty conditions.ObjectiveWe herein present a retrospective analysis of the surveillance SARS-CoV-2 testing in community-dwelling population from Esmeraldas carried out by our university laboratory in collaboration with regional health authorities during the first week of October 2020, in a region where no public SARS-CoV-2 detection laboratory was available at that time.ResultsA total number of 1,259 people were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by Reverse Transcription quantitative Polimerasa Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR), resulting in an overall infection rate of 7.7% (97/1259, 95% CI: [6.32–9.35%]) for SARS-CoV-2, up to 12.1% in some communities. Interestingly, community-dwelling super spreaders with viral loads over 108 copies/ml represented 6.2% of the SARS-CoV-2-infected population. Furthermore, anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG serological tests were applied to the same study group, yielding an overall seroprevalence of 11.68% (95% CI: [9.98–13.62%]) but as high as 24.47% at some communities.ConclusionThese results support active COVID-19 community transmission in Esmeraldas province during the first semester of the COVID-19 pandemic as it has been shown for other rural communities in the Ecuadorian Coastal Region.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Sustained COVID-19 community transmission and potential super spreading events at neglected afro-ecuadorian communities assessed by massive RT-qPCR and serological testing of community dwelling population

et al. 2022

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“…Moreover, as SARS-CoV-2 infection has been described in captive primates and felines [ 8 ], we particularly point out the potential risk for the critically endangered primate Ecuadorian capuchin ( Cebus aequatorialis ); and the felines species of oncilla ( Leopardus tigrinus ) and jaguar ( Panthera oca ), vulnerable and near threatened respectively, according to the IUCN list [ 31 ]. All those three species are present within the area where free roaming SARS-CoV-2 infecting dogs were found and could be potentially affected for a dog to wild animals SARS-CoV-2 transmission that may risk their survival [ 34 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SARS-CoV-2 infection in free roaming dogs from the Amazonian jungle

et al. 2022

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“…Vulnerable groups infected with COVID-19 include not only the elderly and individuals with comorbidities but also historically neglected indigenous populations (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). There are more than 476 million indigenous people in the world, highly represented and traditionally neglected in Latin America (10,11).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those communities are usually isolated or poorly communicated and have poor access to health services. In many cases, such health services have little capacity and limited coverage, which may delay seeking medical attention, complicating early management, and therefore leading to greater risks of complications and mortality under a scenario such as the COVID-19 pandemic (7)(8)(9)13).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and viral loads in community-dwelling individuals from rural indigenous and mestizo communities from the Andes during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador

Morales-Jadán

Vallejo-Janeta²,

Bastidas³

et al. 2023

Front. Med.

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BackgroundNeglected indigenous groups and underserved rural populations in Latin America are highly vulnerable to COVID-19 due to poor health infrastructure and limited access to SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. The Andean region in Ecuador includes a large number of isolated rural mestizo and indigenous communities living under poverty conditions.ObjectiveWe herein present a retrospective analysis of the surveillance SARS-CoV-2 testing in community-dwelling populations from four provinces in the Ecuadorian Andes, carried out during the first weeks after the national lockdown was lifted in June 2020.ResultsA total number of 1,021 people were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR, resulting in an overall high infection rate of 26.2% (268/1,021, 95% CI: 23.6–29%), which was over 50% in several communities. Interestingly, community-dwelling super spreaders with viral loads over 108 copies/mL represented 7.46% (20/268, 95% CI: 4.8–11.1%) of the SARS-CoV-2 infected population.ConclusionThese results support that COVID-19 community transmission in rural communities from the Andean region was happening at the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador and point out the weakness of the COVID-19 control program. Community-dwelling individuals in neglected rural and indigenous communities should be considered for a successful control and surveillance program in future pandemics in low- and middle-income countries.

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COVID-19 outbreaks among isolated Amazonian indigenous people, Ecuador

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

Sustained COVID-19 community transmission and potential super spreading events at neglected afro-ecuadorian communities assessed by massive RT-qPCR and serological testing of community dwelling population

Sustained COVID-19 community transmission and potential super spreading events at neglected afro-ecuadorian communities assessed by massive RT-qPCR and serological testing of community dwelling population

SARS-CoV-2 infection in free roaming dogs from the Amazonian jungle

High SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and viral loads in community-dwelling individuals from rural indigenous and mestizo communities from the Andes during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador

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