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Six million people live at risk of contracting Chagas disease in Venezuela. The insect that spreads the Chagas disease, the chipo (Rhodnius prolixus) is the main mode of transmission, said Ana Carvajal, of the Network of Scientific Societies in Venezuela.

Experts believe that 101,488 square kilometers of the Venezuelan territory, including 198 municipalities, are a common habitat for chipo.

Although the insect can be found in the Capital District and 22 Venezuelan states, the states with most diagnosed cases are Trujillo, Lara, Portuguesa and Barinas, due to their geographical location at foot of hills, near coffee plantations and houses made of mud and straw that facilitate the survival of the vector.

However, in less than two and a half years, the metropolitan area of Caracas has been affected by three massive outbreaks. A fruit juice was the contamination factor both in the municipality of Chacao and in the town of Chichiriviche de la Costa.

The latest outbreak was recorded in La Pedrera, Antímano, southwest Caracas. The causes behind the simultaneous onset of Chagas disease in 15 people, mostly children and almost all still hospitalized, have not been determined.

Giuliana Chiappe
EL UNIVERSAL