Whooping Cough Epidemic Looms Over Nanti Children in Peru · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Nanti children. Image on Flickr by user
Lemurian Grove (CC BY-NC 2.0).
The Nantis is one of the semi-nomadic communities that live in Peru. A part of them live in the townships in the upper Camisea river and the central area of the Timpía river. There are isolated families that live scattered in the upper Timpía river and the northern area of the National Sanctuary Megantoni in Cusco in southeastern Peru.
The Nantis are one of the two subgroups of the Matsigenka or Machiguenga people. Nanti is a name that refers to a number of families that are part of this people who call themselves Matsigenka.
In late April, a delegation from the Peruvian Ministry of Education that arrived to the area confirmed that over ten children had passed away due to whooping cough, a highly contagious disease of the airways caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Bordetella pertussis. They also confirmed there were more children infected.
Other outlets mentioned four deceased children. The website Servindi reported:
Los funcionarios del Minedu (Ministerio de Educación) que llegaron hasta el lugar con el fin de realizar un diagnóstico socioeducativo y sociolingüístico […] lo que encontraron fueron aulas con pocos alumnos y una epidemia en su grado máximo.
Estos llegaron a señalar que inclusive durante su estadía, en la comunidad de Montetoni, fallecieron dos niños más, uno llamado Isaías de 4 años y un bebe de 9 meses.
The officials of the Ministry of Education went there in order to carry out an educational and socio-linguistic diagnosis […] found out classrooms with few students and an epidemic at its highest level.
The officials noted that even while they were, in the Montetoni community, two more children died, four-year old Isaías and a nine-month old baby.
Twitter echoed the news:
Peru: crianças indígenas Nanti morrem em epidemia de coqueluche, em reserva contígua aos PN Alto Purus e Manu | http://t.co/lRJ7XPEQpP
— Cassio de Figueiredo (@casdefigueiredo) abril 30, 2015
Peru: Nanti indigenous children die due to whooping cough epidemic, in a reservation next to Upper Purús and Manu.
Confirman muerte de cuatro niños de pueblo Nanti en Cusco ► http://t.co/SFGQuK8Csr pic.twitter.com/PB6IJhF44B
— Perudalia (@perudalia) abril 30, 2015
Confirmed, four children from the Nanti community have died in Cusco.
Perú: “Enfermedad” mata 4 niños indígenas del pueblo Nanti en contacto inicial http://t.co/8WGxFh4QDz pic.twitter.com/q1JKYjsryQ — Andrés Cuyul (@newenweichan) abril 30, 2015
Peru: “Disease” kills four Nanti indigenous children, community in stage of first contact.