The disease is another: therapeutic itinerary of bovine fascioliosis inRionegro (Antioquia) / La enfermedad es otra: itinerario terapéutico de la fasciolosis bovina enRionegro (Antioquia) / A doença é outra: itinerário terapêutico de fasciolose bovina em Rionegro(Antioquia)

This article presents results of an anthropological research project that was carried out in the municipality ofRionegro in the department of Antioquia, Colombia. The disease caused by hepatic fasciola, a parasite native toEurope, and is now present on every continent and is considered to be the pathogenic disease with the greatestlatitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal distribution. There are no specific observable symptoms in infected animals that allow a diagnosis, which must be done in veterinary laboratories, which is scarcely ever the case given that thedisease rarely causes death. Through the use of ethnographic methods the researchers accessed various interlocutors linked to the pecuary field, which relayed their interpretations about bovine fasciolosis and about the common practices dealing with it ranging from lay knowledge to dialogues with expert and professional understanding. Thetext illustrates the therapeutic itinerary that is undertaken when certain changes in behavior and appearance areperceived, it describes the course of action that is followed in order to restore the animals’ health, and it considers the decisions that livestock farmers take when cures fail, all of which are the result of the fact that it is not mandatory to declare bovine fasciolosis. Academics in the field of national veterinary medicine who research the basic aspects related to the parasite’s life cycle are not familiar with the lay knowledge produced about this disease. An analysis of this knoweldge could contribute to the design of control strategies given that it presents in detail the doubts anduncertainties that have historically surrounded fasciolosis. The tendency to conceive it as a “new” disease, and the scarce attention that it has received in comparison with other livestock diseases that are well-defined in sanitation plans work against the control and prevention of fasciolosis in social practices of bovine livestock management inthe area under study.

Se presentan resultados de una investigación antropológica realizada en el municipio de Rionegro, departamentode Antioquia, Colombia. La enfermedad ocasionada por Fasciola hepatica, un parásito originario de Europa, seencuentra en la actualidad en todos los continentes y es considerada la enfermedad patogénica transmitida porvectores de mayor distribución latitudinal, longitudinal y altitudinal. En los animales infectados no se observansíntomas específicos que faciliten el diagnóstico, este debe hacerse en un laboratorio veterinario, al que en muypocas ocasiones se recurre, debido a que la dolencia rara vez causa la muerte. Mediante el método etnográfico los investigadores accedieron a diferentes interlocutores ligados al ámbito pecuario que expresan sus interpretaciones acerca de la fasciolosis bovina y de las prácticas corrientes para enfrentarla desde el conocimiento lego, en diálogo con el conocimiento profesional o experto. El texto ilustra el itinerario terapéutico iniciado al percibir ciertos cambios en el comportamiento y en el aspecto de los animales, describe el curso de acción para restituír la salud de éstos y se detiene en las decisiones que toman los ganaderos ante el fracaso de la cura, todo ello a expensas de que la fasciolosis bovina no constituye una enfermedad de declaración obligatoria.

No presente artigo apresentam-se resultados de uma pesquisa antropológica no município de Rionegro, departamentoou província de Antioquia, Colômbia. A doença produzida pela fasciola hepatica, um parasita originário da Europa,encontra-se atualmente em todos os continentes, sendo considerada uma doença patogênica transmitida por vetores de maior distribuição latitudinal, longitudinal e altitudinal. Nos animais infetados não se observam sintomas específicosque facilitem o diagnóstico, sendo que este dever ser realizado em um laboratório veterinário. Contudo, o diagnóstico é feito com pouca frequência devido a que a doença raramente causa a morte. Mediante o método etnográfico, ospesquisadores entraram em contato com diferentes interlocutores ligados ao âmbito pecuário que expressam suasinterpretações acerca da fasciolose bovina e das práticas mais comuns para enfrentá-la a partir de um conhecimentoleigo que dialoga com o conhecimento profissional ou especializado. Isto tudo à custa do fato de a fasciolose bovina não constituir uma doença que deva ser declarada. Os acadêmicos, no âmbito da medicina veterinária na Colômbia,conhecem os aspectos básicos relacionados com o ciclo de vida do parasita, mas não estão familiarizados como o conhecimento leigo da doença. Um olhar a partir deste aspecto poderia contribuir para a criação de estratégias de controle visto que apresenta, para um público mais amplo, um mundo de dúvidas e incertezas que foi construídohistoricamente em torno da fasciolose. A tendência a concebê-la como uma doença “nova” e a pouca atenção dada,quando comparada com outras doenças do gado definidas nos programas e planos da saúde pública, desfavorecemo controle a prevenção da fasciolose nas práticas sociais de manejo do gado bovino observadas na área de estudo.

Current bioethical issues in parasitology.

Parasitic diseases constitute the most common infections among the poorest billion people, entailing high mortality rates and leading to long-term infirmities and poverty. Although the setting-up of public health programs implies many ethical consequences, the range of specific questions in parasitology that can be attributed to bioethics remains, to a large extent, unexplored. From the present analysis, it emerged three main issues which characterize ethical stakes in parasitology: accounting the complexity of the field of intervention, putting the principle of justice into practice and managing the changing context of research. From the research angle, medical parasitology-mycology, as other biological disciplines, is undergoing tensions derived from biological reductionism. Thanks to its links with the history and philosophy of the sciences, bioethics can help to clarify them and to explain the growing hold that technologies have over scientific thinking. On the whole, researchers as well as clinicians are called on to assume a specific responsibility, proportional to their competence and their place in the making of scientific, health, economic and social decisions.

[An introduction into bioethics and parasitology]. / Bioethik in der Parasitologie: eine Einführung.

Bioethical considerations increasingly affect the process of integrating scientific and medical findings into the moral conceivabilities of a society and, consequentially, into the stock of laws. In a natural science like parasitology a social consensus must be reached in the areas of species protection, of the red biotechnology, of human prenatal diagnosis, and of animal experiments. The crucial problem is the social value of an individual's dignity and the conjoined question of the admissibility of an exploitation of a creature. The responsibility of man for other organisms, in that particular case parasites and their hosts, is brought up for discussion in a bioethic debate.