ONCHOCERCIASIS IN CHIAPAS, MEXICO

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is a serious health problem in Latin America. The most heavily infected region in Mexico is in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. Early in the twentieth century, agricultural settlements expanded into this area and encroached onto an ecological zone suitable for the transmission of onchocerciasis. The disease has stabilized in numbers infected and extent, but it remains a chronic health problem. The pattern of the disease here demonstrates the dynamic relationship among population movement, landscape change, and disease diffusion.