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Over the last two decades, experts have reported a rising number of deaths caused by chronic kidney disease (CKD) along the Pacific coast of Central America, from southern Mexico to Costa Rica. However, this specific disease is not associated with traditional causes of CKD, such as aging, diabetes, or hypertension. Rather, this disease is a chronic interstitial nephritis termed chronic kidney disease of nontraditional etiology (CKDnT). According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) mortality database, there are elevated rates of deaths related to kidney disease in many of these countries, with the highest rates being reported in El Salvador and Nicaragua. This condition has been identified in certain agricultural communities, predominantly among male farmworkers. Since CKD surveillance systems in Central America are under development or nonexistent, experts and governmental bodies have recommended creating standardized case definitions for surveillance purposes to monitor and characterize this epidemiological situation. A group of experts from Central American ministries of health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and PAHO held a workshop in Guatemala to discuss CKDnT epidemiologic case definitions. In this paper, we propose that CKD in general be identified by the standard definition internationally accepted and that a suspect case of CKDnT be defined as a person age < 60 years with CKD, without type 1 diabetes mellitus, hypertensive diseases, and other well-known causes of CKD. A probable case of CKDnT is defined as a suspect case with the same findings confirmed three or more months later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri), an endemic species of the Gran Chaco ecoregion, is endangered of extinction due mainly to habitat loss and hunting. The only conservation plan for the species was written in 1993. Because the situation continues deteriorating, and the rate of deforestation in the region is currently among the highest in the world, the IUCN SSC Peccary Specialist group saw the need to develop a new conservation strategy. A workshop was held in Paraguay, in March 2016, with representatives of different sectors and range countries. This paper presents a summary of the problems, threats and actions identified by the participants. The other two results of the workshop, a species distribution and population viability modeling, are presented separately in this same newsletter issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]