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Article: The status of infectious disease in the Amazon region.
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- April 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Amazon River basin region is a vast territory with an area >7 million [km.sup.2], encompassing parts of 9 South American countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. The Amazon River, the longest river in the world, traverses the region from west to east, fed by multiple tributaries. The region also contains the largest tropical rainforest in the world, situated on a massive plain whose altitude is near sea level. With a climate characterized by high temperatures and humidity and copious rainfall, the region has the densest and most varied ecosystem in the world.
Conditions in the region are favorable ...