{
  "abstract": "We report on the prevalence of and mortality from SARS-CoV-2 among the Tsimane and Moseten, two Indigenous subsistence groups in Bolivian Amazonia, and show that they evidence the lowest infection fatality rate ever reported. These populations have minimal access to medical care, a history of high parasite and pathogen exposures, and upregulated immune responses compared to industrialized populations. Between July and December of 2020, and again March - May of 2021, 85.4% of the Tsimane population aged 17+ were interviewed, and 42.0% provided blood samples. Among the Moseten aged 17+, 38.3% were interviewed and 38.6% provided blood samples. Blood samples were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with a mix of point-of-care IgG/IgM and ELISA with seroneutralization. The pandemic experience of these groups during the initial 2020 wave contrasts sharply with that observed in more industrialized contexts: while 71% and 63% of the Tsimane and Moseten populations were infected with SARS-CoV-2, mortality was minimal, with infection fatality ratios of 0.009% and 0.095%, respectively. The mortality rate for the Tsimane is 1/23rd the expectation based on rates observed elsewhere in the world. Disease severity-as measured by length of illness, ELISA antibody titers, and virus neutralizing test titers-did not increase markedly with age. We propose that low fatality, despite high transmissibility and non-negligible severity, may be due to a more vigorous and effective immune response to infection, with implications for future global pandemics.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Unité des Virus Émergents (UVE: Aix-Marseille Univ, Università di Corsica, IRD 190, Inserm 1207, IRBA), France.",
    "Gran Consejo Tsimane, San Borja, Bolivia.",
    "Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia.",
    "Universidad Mayor de San Simon, Cochabamba, Bolivia.",
    "School of Collective Intelligence, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Rabat, Morocco",
    "School of Human Evolution and Social Change and Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA.",
    "Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA",
    "Economic Science Institute, Argyos School of Business and Economics, Chapman University, Orange, USA.",
    "Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany",
    "Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.",
    "Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.",
    "Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA",
    "Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA",
    "Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA",
    "Department of Pediatrics, University of California Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine, USA",
    "Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA",
    "School of Collective Intelligence, Universite Mohammed VI Polytechnique, Rabat, Morocco",
    "Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Toulouse School of Economics, and Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France",
    "Division of Cardiology, University of California, Irvine, USA",
    "Department of Cardiology, Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, USA",
    "See ‘Research Team Membership ’ in Supplementary Materials ."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 30,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lucia Inchauste"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xavier de Lamballerie"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Stepháne Priet"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Maguin Gutierrez Cayuba"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Juan Copajira Adrian"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Daniel Eid Rodriguez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Raul Quispe Gutierrez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Alami"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Jacob E. Aronoff"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Kenneth Beutow"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Daniel K. Cummings"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Bret A. Beheim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Caleb E. Finch"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Margaret Gatz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Suhail Ghafoor"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Thomas S. Kraft"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Amanda J. Lea"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13
      ],
      "name": "Wendy J. Mack"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        14
      ],
      "name": "David E. Michalik"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15
      ],
      "name": "M. Katherine Sayre"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        16
      ],
      "name": "Edmond Seabright"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        17
      ],
      "name": "Jonathan Stieglitz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        18
      ],
      "name": "Gregory S. Thomas"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        19
      ],
      "name": "Randall C. Thompson"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Benjamin C. Trumble"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        20
      ],
      "name": "Tsimane Health and Life History Project"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        20
      ],
      "name": "HORUS Research Team"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Hillard S. Kaplan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15
      ],
      "name": "Michael D. Gurven"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Paul L. Hooper"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/023ag8d8y89c0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119493",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13718357/",
  "id": "023ag8d8y89c0",
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    "1873-5347"
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  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119493",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
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      "heading",
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      "2725|SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research"
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  "pdf_url": "https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953626005691/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13718357",
  "pmid": "42320415",
  "published": "2026-06-17",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/023ag8d8y89c0.ris",
  "sources": [
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      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T12:22:24Z",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119493"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2725|SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research",
      "subfield": "infectious-disease"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Exceptionally low mortality despite widespread COVID-19 infection among Indigenous Tsimane and Moseten of Bolivia",
  "title_text": "Exceptionally low mortality despite widespread COVID-19 infection among Indigenous Tsimane and Moseten of Bolivia",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-02T12:22:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/023ag8d8y89c0",
  "venue": "Social science & medicine (1982)",
  "versions": []
}