The malaria item is a strange report.
Malaria is not spread from person to person (except
rarely with blood transfusions or needle sharing).
For transmission, malaria requires a mosquito vector
specifically the Anopheles mosquito. Brazil has a
problem with malaria because it has a problem with
mosquitoes. Public health efforts to control or
eliminate malaria are always focused on the mosquito
vector. Infected travelers would not present a
problem if the mosquito vectors were controlled and
their breeding grounds eliminated.
There is malaria in Brazil although usually not in the
state of Rio de Janeiro. The CDC recommends
chemoprophylaxis when traveling to the following areas
of Brazil. There is risk in states of Acre, Rondonia,
Amapa, Amazonas, Roraima, and Tocantins. Risk in parts
of the states of Maranhao (western part), Mato Grosso
(northern part), and Para (except Belem City). There
is also transmission in urban areas, including large
cities such as Porto Velho, Boa Vista, Macapa, Manaus,
Santarem, and Maraba.
Brazil like many countries has a tendency to blame
their problems on foreigners like an Argentine tourist
returning from Venezuela. The outbreak mentioned
could just as easily been the result of a Brazilian
returning to Itatiata from Manaus. Furthermore, it is
uncommon for one person to be simultaneously infected
with P.falciparium and P.vivax making the authorities
explanation of the outbreak all the more incredulous.
Kevin
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