Following the confirmation of a pertussis outbreak, Panama's Ministry of Health (Minsa) notified the authorities of Costa Rica, as this is the harvest season when Ngäbe Buglé families cross the border to work in that neighboring country, an official communiqué stated. This active pertussis outbreak was confirmed by the health authority on November 8, and this Wednesday, it was reported that there are now 16 confirmed cases of the disease.
According to local press, one case of pertussis has already been confirmed outside the comarca, in a 44-year-old man residing in the metropolitan area. Panama's health authorities reported this Wednesday that they have alerted Costa Rica to the existence of a pertussis outbreak in Panama's indigenous Ngäbe Buglé comarca, located near the common border and whose inhabitants often cross into Costa Rican territory during the harvest season.
As of May 2025, there have been 14,000 cases of pertussis and 93 deaths from the disease reported in seven countries of the Americas, according to the latest information from the regional health authority.
In its communiqué from last Saturday, Minsa reported a death possibly associated with the disease in the Ngäbe Buglé comarca, where classes remain suspended. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) defines pertussis as a highly contagious disease affecting the respiratory tract, caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis or Bordetella parapertussis, which is found in the mouth, nose, and throat of an infected person.
Ngäbe Buglé is the most populous of Panama's six indigenous comarcas, with a population of just over 212,000, according to the 2023 national census data.
Minsa stated this Wednesday that it has activated four rapid response teams to control the outbreak and prevent it from spreading to other communities. In this operation, they are «attending to patients, identifying suspected cases, taking samples for laboratory analysis, applying vaccines, and supplying chemoprophylactic treatment to exposed individuals related to the 16 confirmed cases to date».
As in these other territories, poverty is high, exceeding 88% according to available data.
«The deceased person, a close contact of a confirmed case, had a history of cardiopathy and tracheostomy, with no evidence of a directly attributable cause found in the investigation,» the official information stated at the time.
