The Tropical Medicine Foundation Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado and the Amazonas Health Surveillance Foundation confirmed the presence of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi in the açaí sample consumed by the family that contracted Chagas Disease in the municipality of Lábrea, which is 702 km away from Manaus. Confirmation occurred after laboratory analysis of the contaminated product.
According to the State Department of Health of Amazonas, this is the first time that the presence in the food of the protozoan that causes the disease has been scientifically proven. Previously, the evidence that the fruit was with Trypanosoma was by association - cases that arose after consumption of the contaminated açaí.
According to a report released by the National Radio of the Amazon, laboratory analysis was only possible because the health surveillance team was able to recover some samples of the product that were still available from the supplier.
So far, the Amazon government has confirmed 10 cases of Chagas' disease in the state. All were contracted orally, that is, through the food contaminated by the barber, which ends up being crushed together with the berries, or by the feces of the insect.
In a note sent to the radio, the Amazonas Sanitary Vigilance Foundation reports that it is reinforcing farmers' awareness campaigns regarding good hygiene practices in the production of food with raw material from the forest.
