The present situation of endemic treponematoses (yaws and pinta) in the region of the Americas

Overview

Until the first half of this century, yaws and pinta represented an important public health problem in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (e.g. Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Colombia, Suriname, etc.). With the advent of penicillin therapy it was possible to eradicate pinta and yaws in most of the endemic areas through mass campaigns coordinated by WHO/PAHO during the 1950's and 1960's. Unfortunately, pockets of the two endemic treponematoses still exist in some countries, namely in rural areas. In order to assess the present situation of yaws and pinta, visits of one week duration were planned to Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Mexico (State of Michoacan and Oaxaca*, and Brazil (Belém - State of Parà). Because of logistical problems and recent reports of yaws in rural areas of Haiti, Haiti was visited instead of Colombia.

The main objective of these exploratory visits was to assess the situation of the endemic treponematosis through epidemiological analysis (number of patients according to sex, age, geographical origin, estimates of seroprevalence and trends) and a description of national control programs.