Previously uncontacted tribe returns to rainforest with flu
An Amazon tribe thought to be lost has reappeared — and some of its members have contracted influenza.
Brazil's government department FUNAI, which oversees the affairs of indigenous peoples, recently announced that at least seven members of a long-isolated Amazon tribe are infected with the flu after contact with the outside world. Researchers fear those with influenza will spread the disease to other tribe members who aren't immunized and haven't built up any natural immunity due to their isolation. FUNAI announced that a government-sponsored medical team treated the infected tribe members, but their return home is alarming for the others.
"We can only hope that [the FUNAI team members] were able to give out treatment before the sickness was spread to the rest of the tribe in the forest," Chris Fagan, executive director at the Upper Amazon Conservancy in Jackson, Wyoming, told Science magazine. "Only time will tell if they reacted quickly enough to divert a catastrophic epidemic."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Last month, some of the tribe's members left the forest of the Upper Envira River in Brazil, presumably to escape from illegal loggers and cocaine traffickers in a Peruvian park, Science reports. Their emergence marked the first time in recent history that an uncontacted tribe left its home to visit a settled population, The Independent reports. According to FUNAI's announcement, the group claimed to have been attacked by outsiders, and the Xinane River village "lies along a major route used by cocaine smugglers."
The Rainforest Rescue Coalition speculates that the tribe may be part of a group of Chitonahua people. Researchers estimate there could be as many as 4,000 uncontacted people in the region, making the spread of influenza extremely worrisome. Survival International is currently urging the Peruvian and Brazilian governments to protect the uncontacted tribes.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Stick guitar
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'Sports executives ushered a fox into the henhouse'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published