Members of indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon have contracted covid-19, fuelling concerns that the disease could devastate indigenous groups throughout South America 鈥� including uncontacted tribes in the region. Many fear whole communities could be killed if they contract the virus.
The first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Sepahua, a remote riverside town in the Peruvian Amazon, was reported by the local public health authority on 6 June. Eight days later, the number of cases had increased to 27. Sepahua serves as a gateway to five national parks, some of which were created to protect the right of uncontacted groups to remain isolated from the outside world.
鈥淲e are expecting everywhere in the Amazon to get hit eventually,鈥� says Daniel Aristiza虂bal, who leads the Isolated Peoples Program at Amazon Conservation Team in Suriname.
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From Brazil to Colombia, many indigenous groups have distanced their communities from others for decades to preserve their way of life. As word of the coronavirus spread, some that no longer lived in the region鈥檚 rainforests sought refuge back there.
Colombia鈥檚 Nukak 鈥� a semi-nomadic tribe forcibly displaced from the Amazon in the 1980s and 90s 鈥� returned to the Amazon in March, seeking distance from the contagion. Other indigenous groups have blocked roads and bolstered security perimeters, prohibiting visits from the outside world.
Some indigenous communities may face a higher risk of death from covid-19 than the general population, says Clayton Coelho at the Federal University of S茫o Paulo in Brazil.
鈥淢ost indigenous groups today are made up of small populations, implying low genetic variability. Low genetic variability reduces the chances that we will find individuals naturally resistant to the disease,鈥� says Coelho. It鈥檚 possible that one group may be naturally resistant, but it鈥檚 not probable, he says.
Very remote communities may be particularly vulnerable as people may not have had exposure to other coronaviruses over generations, says Nina Moeller at Coventry University in the UK. However, it鈥檚 not clear whether that would help improve immunity to the current coronavirus, she says.
In Colombia, the virus has infiltrated 33 indigenous groups, with 834 confirmed cases and 28 deaths as of 11 June, according to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia. In Brazil, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in South America, 98 indigenous groups have seen infections, with 5361 confirmed cases and 281 deaths as of 14 June, according to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB).
In Peru, NGOs say that cases among indigenous groups are so high and the spread so diffuse that they are unable to keep track. The Peruvian government has enforced strict social isolation since 15 March and is delivering food parcels to indigenous communities, but some already have poor health due to malnutrition, pollution and inadequate healthcare.
And some social customs 鈥� such as sharing foods and utensils or crowding around the sick to chant for their recovery 鈥� could make outbreaks deadly.
The growing reliance on nearby towns for some indigenous people 鈥� to sell items they produce or buy products and services they cannot make themselves, including mobile phones 鈥� means young people travel into regional hubs as regularly as once a week, potentially carrying infections home. Though the groups鈥� relative isolation may help guard against the virus, if the coronavirus does arrive, the impact could be devastating.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the elders who die first,鈥� says Aristiza虂bal. 鈥淚t鈥檚 particularly tragic for these communities as the elders are the coordinators of society and the owners of secrets.鈥� Unlike with Western science, he says, 鈥渋f an elder dies their ability to make a particular medicine dies with them.鈥�.
A lack of national park guards due to coronavirus measures may also be allowing encroachment into these tribes鈥� territories by drug traffickers and loggers taking advantage of the pandemic to ramp up illegal activities.
This activity has historically introduced malaria and sexually transmitted infections into indigenous communities, says Aristiza虂bal. 鈥淭hey could be vectors of coronavirus,鈥� he says. He adds that satellite images confirm miners are as close as 5 kilometres to the territories of isolated tribes.
鈥淭he risk [of contagion] has never been higher,鈥� says Antenor Vaz, the former head of Brazil鈥檚 indigenous affairs agency. Vaz says the suspected 185 uncontacted tribes in the Amazon, of which 66 are confirmed in existence in eight countries, are 鈥渋n total danger鈥�.
Though medical assistance could potentially save uncontacted tribes, delivering it would be a complex and delicate task. For example, in Peru, laws ban the state and NGOs from interacting directly with uncontacted tribes. For health care, protocols require that services must be installed in surrounding areas and cannot be delivered directly to uncontacted tribes. To do so would be forcing contact and not respecting a group鈥檚 self-determination.
