Brucellosis in Central America
Introduction
Central America (CA) composed by Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panamá, spans a thin region of 523,000 km2 that joins the two continental masses of North and South America. Despite of sharing the same geographical area, major political, economical and historical differences demarcate the various countries (Table 1). With the exception of Costa Rica and Panamá, where conditions are less dramatic, the other CA countries must struggle against poor budgets and limited laboratory facilities for the diagnosis and control of infectious diseases (Arellano et al., 1981). This reality, coupled with constant social conflicts and natural disasters has contributed to damage or the elimination of the few existing resources (www.fao.org/sd/wpdirect/wpan0042.htm). These circumstances have also promoted the exodus of the best-trained individuals who are drawn by better opportunities in the northern countries. Consequently, investigations on brucellosis in CA are discontinuous and not rigorously systematic (http://www.oie.int). The published materials related to this topic are scarce, being the principal sources the yearly reports of Animal and Health Ministries and of the Veterinary Schools. With this limitation in mind, I will attempt to summarize the problem of brucellosis in CA.
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Generalities
CA comprises a community of 36 million inhabitants with a labor active population of 12 million and unemployment rate close to 15%. Despite this, signs of slow progress are foreseen (Table 1). The economy of CA is very fragile, most of it depending on crops, animal husbandry and tourism. In the last few years Costa Rica has developed an additional source of income based upon the manufacturing of computer hardware. Panamá has increased its economy thanks to the stabilization of the social
Brucella natural hosts
Among the Brucella natural hosts in CA, bovines are by far the most relevant, followed by swine, ovines, canines and caprines (Table 2). The bovine population has steadily decreased during the last 15 years. For instance, in 1985 the number of bovines in Costa Rica was 2.3 million, just slightly lower than the number of inhabitants at that time. Similar situations have been recorded in other CA countries. The reasons are diverse, but lower meat prices and constrains in the exportation of
Brucella species and diagnosis
The identified Brucella species in CA follow the distribution and proportion of their natural hosts. The low number of isolates reported corresponds to the degree of laboratory development in the CA countries. It is understandable that most isolates have been performed in research facilities and in clinical laboratories devoted to the diagnosis of human diseases (Sequeira et al., 1984). Brucella abortus biotype 1 and 2 are the only identified biotypes in CA and the most common isolated strains,
Brucellosis in domestic animals and humans
Based on limited serological surveys performed during the last 10 years, the estimated prevalence of bovine brucellosis in CA corresponds from 4 to 8%, and a rate of herd infection (mainly dairy herds) is from 10 to 25%. El Salvador seems to be the country with less bovine brucellosis (close to 1% prevalence), while Guatemala and Costa Rica seem to possess the highest prevalence; although, this may be the result of more efficient diagnosis performed in these countries. Most of the infected
Control programs
Most CA countries have initiated programs for the control of brucellosis, with the economical and technical help of international agencies (Gonzales et al., 1980; http://ns1.oirsa.org.sv). Even though some of these actions have contributed to establish vaccination, surveillance and quarantine programs, in time they have suffered economical constraints with unfortunate consequences (http://www.oie.int). For instance, in 1940 Costa Rica had a population of about one million inhabitants and a
Concluding remarks
Elimination of brucellosis in CA cannot be achieved just by the application of fixed strategies used in other latitudes. The control and prevention of brucellosis is far more complex than vaccination, testing and slaughtering of the reactors. Each country and each region has its own characteristics that must be considered at the time of initiating a program towards the elimination of the disease. The first measures in CA must be directed to restrict the spreading of the bacteria and to reduce
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the MICIT/CONICIT of Costa Rica.
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