Flu outbreak suspected in Amazon tribe deaths
By T he Associated Press
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Published: November 5, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — Swine flu has appeared among Venezuela’s Yanomami Indians, one of the largest isolated indigenous groups in the Amazon, and a doctor said Wednesday that the virus is suspected in seven deaths, including six infants.
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The deaths happened in forest villages near Venezuela’s border with
Brazil over the past 2½ weeks, said Raidan Bernade, a Venezuelan doctor on a team working to contain the outbreak and treat the ill.
The deaths were reported Wednesday by the
London-based indigenous rights group
Survival International, which warned that if not properly contained the virus could spread and cause more deaths among people who are particularly susceptible to disease due to their limited contact with the outside world.
It is unclear how swine flu reached the Yanomami.
There are an estimated 28,000 or more Yanomami living in communities on both sides of the Venezuela-Brazil border. They have maintained their language as well as traditions including face paint and wooden facial ornaments piercing their noses, cheeks and lips.
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