Malaria in French Guiana Linked to Illegal Gold Mining

Santi, Vincent Pommier de; Dia, Aïssata; Adde, Antoine; Hyvert, Georges; Galant, Julien; Mazevet, Michel; Nguyen, Christophe; Vezenegho, Samuel B.; Dusfour, Isabelle; Girod, Romain; Briolant, Sébastien

doi:10.3201/eid2202.151292

Cited by 56 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…As we showed, since 2014, malaria has spread from the south and northeastern coastal regions to the lowland central savannas and west Andes piedmont ecoregions where malaria had previously been eliminated, increasing the population at-risk to around 50% compared to 34.4% in 2010. Our results also confirm the importance of malaria linked to mobile illegal gold miners and their role in its spread among the Guiana Shield countries [51,52,53,54]. Understanding the spatiotemporal variability between Plasmodium and human movement (spatial demography) will be key in designing and implementing a strategic malaria control program in Venezuela.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Malaria in Southern Venezuela: The Hottest Hotspot in Latin America

Grillet

Moreno²,

Hernandez

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Malaria cases in Latin America reached ~1 million in 2017 and 2018, with 53% and 51% reported from Venezuela, respectively. In this study, we characterized the spatiotemporal dynamics of malaria transmission between 2007-2017 in southern Venezuela, the main endemic area of the country. We found that disease transmission was focal and more prevalent in the southeast of southern Venezuela where two persistent hotspots of Plasmodium vivax (76%) and P. falciparum (18%) linked to deforestation for illegal gold mining accounted for ~60% of the country-wide number of cases. Incidence has increased nearly tenfold in the last decade, showing an explosive epidemic growth due to a significant lack of disease control. We suggest that a source-sink pattern of Plasmodium sp.dispersal account for the re-emergence and progression of malaria transmission in the last 4 years across the country due to the internal migration of infected people to and from the hotspots and other malaria-prone ecosystems. We observe a similar pattern explaining the spillover of cases across international borders affecting neighboring countries. This study provides baseline epidemiological data and guidance for malaria control to further assess the dynamics of cross-border malaria, the role of asymptomatic carriers, drug-resistant evolution, and innovative control efforts in the Latin America region.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Malaria in Southern Venezuela: The Hottest Hotspot in Latin America

Grillet

Moreno²,

Hernandez

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…In Guyana, 94% of malaria cases in 2018 were from the four regions where inhabitants participate in gold mining and logging as their main economic activity [37]. In French Guiana, where the government is fighting against illegal gold mining, soldiers and gendarmes (police officers) intervening in mining areas are often affected by malaria and can be considered as a good sentinel group to monitor malaria in those settings [28,38]. In Suriname, local transmission has almost disappeared and most of malaria cases are imported from mining camps in Guyana and French Guiana [14].…”

Section: State-level Data From Surveillance Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Malaria in Gold Miners in the Guianas and the Amazon: Current Knowledge and Challenges

et al. 2020

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Purpose of Review Following Paraguay and Argentina, several countries from the Amazon region aim to eliminate malaria. To achieve this, all key affected and vulnerable populations by malaria, including people working on gold mining sites, must be considered. What is the situation of malaria in these particular settings and what are the challenges? This literature review aims to compile knowledge to answer these questions. Recent FindingsThe contexts in which gold miners operate are very heterogeneous: size and localization of mines, links with crime, administrative status of the mines and of the miners, mobility of the workers or national regulations. The number of malaria cases has been correlated with deforestation (Brazil, Colombia), gold production (Colombia), gold prices (Guyana), or location of the mining region (Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana). The burden of malaria in gold mines differs between territories: significant in Guyana, French Guiana, or Venezuela; lower in Brazil. Although Plasmodium vivax causes 75% of malaria cases in the Americas, P. falciparum is predominant in several gold mining regions, especially in the Guiana Shield. Because of the remoteness from health facilities, self-medication with under-the-counter antimalarials is frequent. This constitutes a significant risk for the emergence of new P. falciparum parasites resistant to antimalarial drugs. Summary Because of the workers' mobility, addressing malaria transmission in gold mines is essential, not only for miners, but also to prevent the (re-)emergence of malaria. Strategies among these populations should be tailored to the context because of the heterogeneity of situations in different territories. The transnational environment favoring malaria transmission also requires transborder and regional cooperation, where innovative solutions should be considered and evaluated.

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“…Resistance to chloroquine, the main treatment used against vivax malaria [2], has been reported in the Brazilian Amazon Region [4, 17, 18, 20, 21, 32, 36, 37]. In French Guiana, the development of gold-mining activities and the consequent human migration between French Guiana and neighbouring countries, Brazil and Suriname [4, 38, 39], have raised fears that chloroquine-resistant P. vivax isolates may spread. It is therefore important to follow the circulation of resistant isolates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasmodium vivax multidrug resistance-1 gene polymorphism in French Guiana

Faway

Musset

Volney

et al. 2016

Malar J

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Background Plasmodium vivax malaria is a major public health problem in French Guiana. Some cases of resistance to chloroquine, the first-line treatment used against P. vivax malaria, have been described in the Brazilian Amazon region. The aim of this study is to investigate a possible dispersion of chloroquine-resistant P. vivax isolates in French Guiana. The genotype, polymorphism and copy number variation, of the P. vivax multidrug resistance gene-1 (pvmdr1) have been previously associated with modification of the susceptibility to chloroquine.MethodsThe pvmdr1 gene polymorphism was evaluated by sequencing and copy number variation was assessed by real-time PCR, in P. vivax isolates obtained from 591 symptomatic patients from 1997 to 2013.ResultsThe results reveal that 1.0% [95% CI 0.4–2.2] of French Guiana isolates carry the mutations Y976F and F1076L, and that the proportion of isolates with multiple copies of pvmdr1 has significantly decreased over time, from 71.3% (OR = 6.2 [95% CI 62.9–78.7], p < 0.0001) in 1997–2004 to 12.8% (OR = 0.03 [95% CI 9.4–16.9], p < 0.0001) in 2009–2013. A statistically significant relationship was found between Guf-A (harboring the single mutation T958M) and Sal-1 (wild type) alleles and pvmdr1 copy number.ConclusionsFew P. vivax isolates harboring chloroquine-resistant mutations in the pvmdr1 gene are circulating in French Guiana. However, the decrease in the prevalence of isolates carrying multiple copies of pvmdr1 might indicate that the P. vivax population in French Guiana is evolving towards a decreased susceptibility to chloroquine.

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Malaria in French Guiana Linked to Illegal Gold Mining

Abstract: International audienceno abstrac

Cited by 56 publications

References 8 publications

Malaria in Southern Venezuela: The Hottest Hotspot in Latin America

Malaria in Southern Venezuela: The Hottest Hotspot in Latin America

Malaria in Gold Miners in the Guianas and the Amazon: Current Knowledge and Challenges

Plasmodium vivax multidrug resistance-1 gene polymorphism in French Guiana

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