Chagas outbreak in Brazil may be foodborne (promedmail.org)

The Abaetetuba municipality, in the northeast of the [Para] state, has a Chagas disease outbreak. Of the 35 cases registered in Para state, the city registered 11. The suspicion is that the occurrences are related to consumption of acai [a palm, _Euterpe oleracea_, cultivated for fruit, juice or hearts of palm. - Mod. TY]. “We have an recent outbreak in the Abaetetuba municipality. We have about 11 people who are ill, including a man who grinds up acai and 2 people in his family. We know that this number [of ill individuals] is going to increase. Health Surveillance and Epidemiology of the municipality is working [on the situation] and we, as state government [officials], are supervising their actions,” explained Elenild Goes, state coordinator for Chagas disease. According to the state Secretariat of Health (SESPA), Para is the state [in Brazil] with the most cases of the disease. In 2011, 141 cases were registered. From 1 Jan - August, 2012, the Secretariat total is 35 cases…

1 Notes/ Hide

  1. jimrehs reblogged this from germgirl and added:
    Interesting Foodborne illness stuff.
  2. germgirl posted this