Brasilia, Brazil

An Amazon Indigenous community of just 121 people is facing the prospects of a full-blown epidemic as more than 100 members experience flu-like symptoms. The Korubo people, who live in Brazil’s Javari valley, continue to live with little interaction with the outer world. It was only in 1996 that they were contacted by a government official. In 2022, Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips were also killed in the region.

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According to local experts, the community is extremely vulnerable in current conditions. “The vulnerability of this community is extremely high; any infection can quickly escalate into an epidemic,” said Manoel Chorimpa, a local leader and adviser at OPI, an organisation dedicated to protecting Indigenous groups in voluntary isolation and those recently exposed to urbanisation.

22 cases of pneumonia registered

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News portal The Guardian cited health officials as saying that at least 101 members of the community have been diagnosed with symptoms, 22 of whom have progressed to pneumonia. Notably, 15 of them are aged below nine years.

Earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic also affected the most community members.

To address the problem and provide healthcare to the Korubo people, a boat service was started by the authorities in 2023 which was supposed to cross the Ituí River and then serve the patients. However, currently, it remains parked along the banks of the Ituí River, requiring patients to travel there instead.

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“This has already subverted the boat’s purpose,” said Luisa Suriani, another OPI adviser. “When someone is sick and heads over, the whole family tags along, setting up camp on the riverbank, which makes it easier for diseases to spread.”

Malaria and diarrhoea

People in the Javari Valley also grapple with high rates of malaria and diarrhoea, further exacerbating their health conditions.

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According to the country’s health ministry, only a fifth of the villages have access to sanitation facilities. Between 2018 and 2022, 134 people died in the area, 34 per cent of whom were aged below a year.

What carries diseases to them?

Despite the Indigenous communities’ limited interaction with the outer world, their health conditions have severely been affected by invasions by illegal miners, loggers, fishers, hunters and drug gangs.

This worsened under the administration of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who halted enforcement and slashed environmental budgets, leading to surges in deforestation and illegal activity in the region.

(With inputs from agencies)