Browsing by Autor "Pablo Cuervo"

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Global warming induced spread of the highest human fascioliasis hyperendemic area
(BioMed Central, 2024) Pablo Cuervo; M. Dolores Bargues; Patricio Artigas; Paola Buchón; René Angles; Santiago Mas‐Coma
Warmer temperatures have enabled lymnaeids to colonize formerly unsuitable higher altitudes, outside the endemicity area verified in the 1990s. Further, drier conditions might lead to an overexploitation of permanent water collections where lymnaeids inhabit, favoring fascioliasis transmission. Therefore, the present preventive chemotherapy by annual mass treatments is in need to widen the area of implementation. This study emphasizes the convenience for continuous monitoring of nearby zones for quick reaction and appropriate action modification.
Heterogeneous zonal impacts of climate change on a wide hyperendemic area of human and animal fascioliasis assessed within a One Health action for prevention and control
(Public Library of Science, 2025) Pablo Cuervo; M. Dolores Bargues; Patricio Artigas; Paola Buchón; René Angles; Santiago Mas‐Coma
The Northern Bolivian Altiplano is the fascioliasis endemic area where the highest prevalences and intensities in humans have been recorded. In this hyperendemic area of human fascioliasis, the disease is caused only by Fasciola hepatica and transmitted by Galba truncatula, the sole lymnaeid species present in the area. When analysing the link between global warning and the recently reported geographical spread of lymnaeid populations to out-border localities, a marked heterogeneous climatic change was found throughout the endemic area. The aim of the present study was to analyse the physiographical heterogeneity of the fascioliasis hyperendemic area in the Northern Bolivian Altiplano, in order to assess its repercussions in the implementation of a One Health action. We applied multivariate linear mixed models to analyse the influence of a number of physiographical features on the long-term variation of climate and of the risk of transmission. Despite its apparent physiographic homogeneity, the findings of this study revealed markedly heterogeneous climate characteristics throughout the endemic area. This irregular pattern is influenced by physiographical features such as altitude, inner hills, closeness to Lake Titicaca, and El Niño-Southern Oscillation. This is the broadest study ever performed in a human fascioliasis endemic area about the influence of physiography on climate. It highlights the importance of considering physiographical features, an aspect usually not considered in studies dealing with the influences of climate and climate change on human and animal fascioliasis. Moreover, it shows that an endemic area may climatically evolve differently in its various inner zones and emphasizes the need for continuous monitoring to assess whether control measures should be modified accordingly.
One Health initiative in the Bolivian Altiplano human fascioliasis hyperendemic area: Lymnaeid biology, population dynamics, microecology and climatic factor influences
(Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria, 2021) M. Dolores Bargues; René Angles; José Coello; Patricio Artigas; Ilra R. Funatsu; Pablo Cuervo; Paola Buchón; Santiago Mas‐Coma
Fascioliasis is a freshwater snail-borne zoonotic disease. The Northern Bolivian Altiplano is a very high altitude endemic area where the highest human prevalences and intensities have been reported. Preventive chemotherapy by treatment campaigns is yearly applied. However, liver fluke infection of cattle, sheep, pigs and donkeys assures endemicity and consequent human infection and re-infection risks. A One Health action has therefore been implemented. Activity concerns lymnaeid vectors and environment diversity. Studies included growth, egg-laying and life span in laboratory-reared lymnaeids. Different habitat types and influencing factors were assessed. All populations proved to belong to Galba truncatula by rDNA sequencing. Analyses comprised physico-chemical characteristics and monthly follow-up of water temperature, pH and quantity, and lymnaeid abundance and density. Population dynamics in the transmission foci differed. Mean environmental temperature was lower than fluke development minimum temperature threshold, but water temperature was higher, except during winter. A two generations/year pattern appeared in permanent water habitats, and one generation/year pattern in habitats drying out for months. The multidisciplinary control measures can be extended from one part of the endemic area to another. These studies, made for the first time at very high altitude, constitute a baseline useful for fascioliasis control in other countries.
Potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae at very high altitude: Detection by multiplex qPCR in the Northern Altiplano fascioliasis hyperendemic area in Bolivia
(Elsevier BV, 2025) Patricia Pérez-Pérez; Patricio Artigas; María Reyes-Batllé; Elizabeth Córdoba-Lanús; Rubén L. Rodríguez-Expósito; Pablo Cuervo; Angélica Domínguez-de-Barros; Omar García-Pérez; M. Adela Valero; Ashley Elias