Forest Disturbance and Health Risks to the Yanomami

The Yanomami live deep in the Amazon rainforest on both sides of the border between Venezuela and Brazil. With an estimated total population of 26,000 people, their traditional territory extends over 192,000 km² of tropical forests located to the west of the Guiana Shield (Milliken et al, 1999). Prior to the 1940s, the Yanomami in Brazil had little contact with the outside world, and thus, the danger of contracting exogenous diseases was minimal. Until the 1960s, permanent contact with outsiders was limited to religious missions and government outposts established by the Indian Protection Service.