Municipalities Of Antioquia Research Articles

Artisanal gold mining in Antioquia, Colombia: a successful case of mercury reduction

Abstract Five municipalities in Antioquia, Colombia, with population of 162,000 inhabitants, were the world's largest mercury polluter from artisanal gold mining in 2010, releasing and emitting an average of 92 (73–110) tonnes/a of mercury. UNIDO – United Nations Industrial Development Organization joined forces with the Government of Antioquia, National University of Colombia and University of British Columbia to start The Colombia Mercury Project to reduce mercury use and losses. 1 The actions consisted of assessment of mercury losses, health monitoring and awareness campaign. This was supported by technical demonstrations of methods to reduce the amount of mercury used in the processing centres (“entables”). Enhanced enforcement of existing local and federal regulations accompanied these activities. Demonstrations of cleaner methods to miners and owners of “entables” generated 39 new mercury-free processing plants. The presence of the company Gran Colombia Gold buying ore from the miners at a fair price also contributed considerably to observed reductions in mercury use. Mercury entering in the whole ore amalgamation in the 323 “entables” was reduced on average 43% from 2010 levels. In 2013, mercury losses were reduced by 63%, resulting in 46 to 70 tonnes/a, less mercury entering the environment than in 2010.

Family Dysfunction and Some Associated Factors among Adolescent Studentsof Three Municipalities of Antioquia - Colombia

Journal of Anthropology and Archaeology is a peer-reviewed international journal, which publishes original papers promoting theoretical, methodological and empirical developments in the discipline of socio-cultural anthropology.

Reduced Efficacy of Commercial Acaricides Against Populations of Resistant Cattle Tick Rhipicephalus microplus from Two Municipalities of Antioquia, Colombia.

Two distant Antioquian cattle farms where systemic and topical acaricides had previously failed to control infestations by Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus were studied. An initial in vivo study was conducted using single subcutaneous injections with a long-acting formulation of ivermectin (630 μg/kg). Injections were made at 3-month intervals on animals at each farm to evaluate the therapeutic and persistent efficacy of ivermectin against R. microplus. Body tick counts and reproductive parameters of semi- or fully engorged females (≥5 mm) were assessed at 10-day intervals, and since no negative control group could be included, values were compared against those for day 0. Although there was an overall reduction of 50%–75% in tick numbers that persisted for 30–40 days, it was not significantly different at one of the farms and not enough to afford protection from severe infestations. The engorgement weight and egg mass weight of ticks from treated animals were significantly lower throughout the 50-day posttreatment period. Egg hatch was not significantly reduced posttreatment and remained at levels of 80%–90%. A random selection of 9 out of 28 commercial formulations of ivermectin sold in Colombia were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). All were within the expected labeled concentration (±15% deviation) of 1% and 3.15% ivermectin except for one. A popular unregistered injectable widely used in both farms and labeled as “natural pyrethrin”, was found to contain 10.5% ivermectin. An adult immersion test was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of topical acaricides to recommended concentrations of five commercial products and/or their combinations. Efficacy was determined by comparing the reproductive index of each treated group to that of the control group. Cypermethrin (150 ppm) was completely ineffective at both farms. Amitraz (208 ppm) exhibited low and intermediate efficacies of 14% and 56%. The combination of amitraz (100 ppm) and cypermethrin (150 ppm) was less efficacious than the amitraz alone. A generic product based on amitraz + citronella (208 ppm + 10 ppm, respectively) was shown to be less efficacious than the name-brand amitraz product. Products containing the organophosphate chlorpyrifos or trichlorfon exhibited intermediate efficacies of approximately 60% at the Tarso farm. We conclude that at these two locations, there is a high degree of resistance to many of the acaricides available in Colombia and confirm suspicions that ivermectin is no longer able to eliminate tick infestations.

Leptospirosis con inmunoglobulina M positiva en pacientes hospitalizados en una institución de tercer nivel de Medellín, Colombia, en 2009

Due to the fact that leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that goes underdiagnosed and may cause serious complications, it must be included among the infectious diagnoses to rule out for infected patients. It occurs in developed populations and in tropical regions, both in urban and rural areas, causing epidemics or becoming endemic. Patients usually show benign symptoms or are even asymptomatic, and it may resemble other infectious diseases, which complicates its diagnosis; however, in some cases, it causes severe and fatal complications. The purpose of this paper is to remark the importance of having a high clinical suspicion to make a timely diagnosis of this disease, reporting a series of 14 patients with symptoms suggestive of leptospirosis, who had a positive serology for Leptospira spp., supporting the clinical diagnosis. Out of those patients, six had serious complications and two had fatal outcomes. Data were obtained from patients from different municipalities of Antioquia and Chocó, who consulted and were hospitalized in a tertiary care institution in Medellín, Colombia, during 2009.

Polimorfismos del gen pfmdr1 en muestras clínicas de Plasmodium falciparum y su relación con la respuesta terapéutica a antipalúdicos y paludismo grave en Colombia

Introduction. The pfmdr1 gene of Plasmodium falciparum has been described as a gene conferring resistance to several antimalarial drugs. In particular, polymorphisms on specific codons have been associated with resistance and treatment failure with cloroquine, amodiaquine and mefloquine. However, the role of these polymorphisms in treatment response to antimalarials remains unexplored in Colombia. Furthermore, the relationship of these polymorphisms to severe malaria is unknown.Objective. This work studied the association of the Asn86Tyr and Asp1246Tyr pfmdr1 polymorphisms with response to cloroquine, amodiaquine and mefloquine treatment in three municipalities of Antioquia, and severe malaria cases from the municipality Tumaco.Materials and methods.The polymorphisms were assessed by nucleic acid amplification followed by restriction length polymorphism analysis.Results. The wild-type codon Asn86 was detected in 97% of the clinical samples from the treatment response study. No association was detected between this polymorphism and treatment failure to the three antimalarials administered. The 1246Tyr polymorphism was detected with a higher frequency in the samples from Antioquia 92% (130/141) than in those from Tumaco 22% (20/89). However, again, no association was found between the presence of a specific polymorphism and the presence of severe malaria in the municipality of Tumaco. Conclusions. The 86Tyr and 1246Tyr polymorphisms of the pfmdr1 gene are not useful as predictors of treatment failure or severe malaria in the municipalities studied. In addition, we report for the first time, the presence of the mutant codon 86Tyr in field samples in South America.

Polymorphisms of the pfmdr1 gene in field samples of Plasmodium falciparum and their association with therapeutic response to antimalarial drugs and severe malaria in Colombia

The pfmdr1 gene of Plasmodium falciparum has been described as a gene conferring resistance to several antimalarial drugs. In particular, polymorphisms on specific codons have been associated with resistance and treatment failure with cloroquine, amodiaquine and mefloquine. However, the role of these polymorphisms in treatment response to antimalarials remains unexplored in Colombia. Furthermore, the relationship of these polymorphisms to severe malaria is unknown. This work studied the association of the Asn 86Tyr and Asp1246Tyr pfmdr1 polymorphisms with response to cloroquine, amodiaquine and mefloquine treatment in three municipalities of Antioquia, and severe malaria cases from the municipality Tumaco. The polymorphisms were assessed by nucleic acid amplification followed by restriction length polymorphism analysis. The wild-type codon Asn 86 was detected in 97% of the clinical samples from the treatment response study. No association was detected between this polymorphism and treatment failure to the three antimalarials administered. The 1246Tyr polymorphism was detected with a higher frequency in the samples from Antioquia 92% (130/141) than in those from Tumaco 22% (20/89). However, again, no association was found between the presence of a specific polymorphism and the presence of severe malaria in the municipality of Tumaco. The 86Tyr and 1246Tyr polymorphisms of the pfmdr1 gene are not useful as predictors of treatment failure or severe malaria in the municipalities studied. In addition, we report for the first time, the presence of the mutant codon 86Tyr in field samples in South America.

Diversity of Bacillus thuringiensis strains in the maize and bean phylloplane and their respective soils in Colombia.

To evaluate the distribution of Bacillus thuringiensis strains from maize and bean phylloplane and their respective soils. B. thuringiensis was isolated from the phylloplane and soil of maize and bean from three municipalities in Antioquia, Colombia. Ninety six samples of phylloplane and 24 of soil were analyzed. A total of 214 isolates were obtained from 96 phylloplane samples while 59 isolates were recovered from 24 soil samples. Sixty five per cent and 12% of the phylloplane and soil isolates, respectively, showed activity against Spodoptera frugiperda. These isolates contained delta-endotoxin proteins of 57 and 130 kDa. The most toxic isolates against S. frugiperda had the genotype cry1Aa, cry1Ac, cry1B, and cry1D. In contrast, 27% of the phylloplane isolates and 88% of the soil isolates were active against Culex quinquefasciatus and had protein profiles similar to B. thuringiensis serovar. medellin and B. thuringiensis serovar. israelensis. The most active isolates contain cry4 and cry11 genes. The predominant population of B. thuringiensis on the phylloplane harbored the cry1 gene and was active against S. frugiperda, whereas in soil, isolates harboring cry11 gene and active against C. quinquefasciatus were the majority. The predominance of specific B. thuringiensis populations, both on the leaves and in the soil, suggests the presence of selection in B. thuringiensis populations on the studied environment.