Comments on: A Plague in the Village http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/ About the upper Amazon River, the Amazon rainforest, Iquitos Peru, and Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:41:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Bill http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/comment-page-1/#comment-7692 Bill Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:37:02 +0000 http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/#comment-7692 I am proud that Dawn on the Amazon played a small role in speeding up the medical response to Gamitana Village, and ultimately to this research. It took days of prodding and pestering to get the medical authorities in Iquitos to take some action. Now I am sure they are glad they did something constructive. "An international team of researchers has isolated a new species of Leptospira, the bacterial spirochete that causes the disease leptospirosis, in the highly biodiverse Peruvian Amazon region. In a study published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers demonstrate that the animal source of this species is the domestic rat, and they show how the incorporation of this new species into diagnostic routines helped identify the disease among patients in Iquitos, Peru." "After isolating, identifying, and provisionally naming the new species Leptospira licerasiae, the authors incorporated this new isolate into blood testing of patients with acute febrile illness (fever fits) in Iquitos. The results showed a much higher incidence of leptospirosis than previously suspected, showing the importance of using region-specific Leptospira in diagnosis." Bill Grimes I am proud that Dawn on the Amazon played a small role in speeding up the medical response to Gamitana Village, and ultimately to this research. It took days of prodding and pestering to get the medical authorities in Iquitos to take some action. Now I am sure they are glad they did something constructive.

“An international team of researchers has isolated a new species of Leptospira, the bacterial spirochete that causes the disease leptospirosis, in the highly biodiverse Peruvian Amazon region. In a study published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers demonstrate that the animal source of this species is the domestic rat, and they show how the incorporation of this new species into diagnostic routines helped identify the disease among patients in Iquitos, Peru.”

“After isolating, identifying, and provisionally naming the new species Leptospira licerasiae, the authors incorporated this new isolate into blood testing of patients with acute febrile illness (fever fits) in Iquitos. The results showed a much higher incidence of leptospirosis than previously suspected, showing the importance of using region-specific Leptospira in diagnosis.”

Bill Grimes

]]> By: Bill http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/comment-page-1/#comment-3446 Bill Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:04:53 +0000 http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/#comment-3446 Judging from the description of your great adventure I think you will be most happy flagging down launchas or colectivos, as they are called in Peru. They are basic, crowded, hammock boats that stop at nearly every village along the rivers. You can get off where ever you decide, and pick up another boat later by waving a large piece of white cloth at the next boat you want to catch. Sometimes you have to hire a small boat to carry you out to the launcha. You must have your own hammocks, and you must be vigilant guarding your possessions, backpacks, even your shoes, towels, everything. One person should stay with your gear while the other goes to the toilet or to the top deck. Bring pure water with you, or water filtering equipment. You should have an anti-diarrhial medication with you. The quality of food on launchas is...an adventure. I hope this is good advise for you. Judging from the description of your great adventure I think you will be most happy flagging down launchas or colectivos, as they are called in Peru. They are basic, crowded, hammock boats that stop at nearly every village along the rivers. You can get off where ever you decide, and pick up another boat later by waving a large piece of white cloth at the next boat you want to catch. Sometimes you have to hire a small boat to carry you out to the launcha. You must have your own hammocks, and you must be vigilant guarding your possessions, backpacks, even your shoes, towels, everything. One person should stay with your gear while the other goes to the toilet or to the top deck. Bring pure water with you, or water filtering equipment. You should have an anti-diarrhial medication with you. The quality of food on launchas is…an adventure. I hope this is good advise for you.

]]> By: Manuel and Tamaura http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/comment-page-1/#comment-3444 Manuel and Tamaura Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:54:36 +0000 http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/#comment-3444 Hello! Thank you for your recollection of some experiences along the Amazon river. We are trying to collect information regarding our own excursion along the amazon this January-April. We are heading south from Guatemala through central America in November and then taking a charter boat to South America sometime before Christmas. I was hoping that since you seem to be so experienced in this region, that you might have some advice for us. We hope to trek on foot, by bike, and boat our whole journey and love to sleep under the stars. We are not interested in common American convenience and are having trouble determining the best way to hire a boat along the Amazon. We are making our way to Peru as our flight home is from Lima in April. Thank you for any information! Love and bliss! Hello! Thank you for your recollection of some experiences along the Amazon river. We are trying to collect information regarding our own excursion along the amazon this January-April. We are heading south from Guatemala through central America in November and then taking a charter boat to South America sometime before Christmas. I was hoping that since you seem to be so experienced in this region, that you might have some advice for us. We hope to trek on foot, by bike, and boat our whole journey and love to sleep under the stars. We are not interested in common American convenience and are having trouble determining the best way to hire a boat along the Amazon. We are making our way to Peru as our flight home is from Lima in April. Thank you for any information!

Love and bliss!

]]> By: Bill http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/comment-page-1/#comment-1114 Bill Mon, 11 Jun 2007 02:49:28 +0000 http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/#comment-1114 Hi Dale, Thanks for checking up on me again. I was hoping to see you for the Great River Amazon Raft Race 2007. We share your sadness that your rafting partner, Montana John Mack met his untimely demise at Mancora Beach. We miss his smiling face here in Iquitos. Mike and I, and everyone that knew him feel awful. The raft race will not be the same without him. I hope you will carry on the winning tradition. Best regards, Bill Hi Dale,

Thanks for checking up on me again. I was hoping to see you for the Great River Amazon Raft Race 2007. We share your sadness that your rafting partner, Montana John Mack met his untimely demise at Mancora Beach. We miss his smiling face here in Iquitos. Mike and I, and everyone that knew him feel awful. The raft race will not be the same without him. I hope you will carry on the winning tradition.

Best regards,
Bill

]]> By: Bill http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/comment-page-1/#comment-1113 Bill Mon, 11 Jun 2007 02:41:41 +0000 http://dawnontheamazon.com/blog/2007/05/19/a-plague-in-the-village/#comment-1113 Hi Larry, We must be slow because we could have been dancing while the mighty rain storm assaulted us, calling out, "freedom" across the largest river on earth. Our friends back home would never have known, except for the sloth and it wouldn't tell. Best wishes, Bill Hi Larry,

We must be slow because we could have been dancing while the mighty rain storm assaulted us, calling out, “freedom” across the largest river on earth. Our friends back home would never have known, except for the sloth and it wouldn’t tell.

Best wishes,
Bill

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