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H1N1 got you down? It could be worse
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The middle of Africa sits plop in the center of the globe and is large enough to fit the US, China, India, and Europe with some room left over. The entire continent sits near the equator, so the climate is mostly tropical with savanna and highland forests in the temperate regions. Sure, that means nothing to you, Mr. and Mrs. Albuquerque, because you aren’t much concerned with the equator. You enjoy clear skies most of the year, and diseases, apart from the H1N1 pandemic and Hanta Virus—well maybe some bubonic plague—this continent remains relatively disease free.
Turns out there are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, people only arrived in North America about 30,000 years ago. In addition, our climate means cold dry winters kill off many types of organisms that would like to make a living as a human parasite.
In Africa, there are few areas where the weather gets cold enough to kill off nasty buggers. The bugs and germs living in Africa have been infecting human beings for millions of years. Since Africa is widely considered the birth place of human kind, the pests that evolved understand the human host uniquely well.
One such ancient disease is the sleeping sickness, carried by the Tsetse fly. This disease kills both humans and cattle. It’s special ability to change coatings keeps the immune system from eliminating the parasite.
Another disease, Bilharzia, known as schistosomiasis, carried by water snails, attacks people swimming in infected water. This disease has been found in Egyptian mummies dated back to 1200 B.C. When infected, the belly swells from an inflamed liver and energy levels decrease as victim suffers from severe malnutrition.
Hookworms are other old, nasty bugs. A Hookworm larvae injects into the bottom of the foot where it travels for two days through the bloodstream to the lungs. It climbs up to the throat, then the stomach, and finally the intestines. Once inside, the worm lays thousands of eggs.
Malaria can be particularly bad, especially when it causes cerebral malaria--and children are the hardest hit. Unfortunately, one mosquito species, Anopheles gambiae that carries Falciparum, has evolved to specialize in human beings. Once it infects the blood traveling through the small capillaries of the brain—game over.
Africa also has yellow fever, carried by ticks, typhoid, and hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Some regions still suffer from Polio, and drug resistant Tuberculosis is epidemic. But the saddest part is how AIDS has ravaged Africa. Here in Swaziland, where I’m currently visiting, AIDS is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 30 and 50. For teenagers, one out of every two carries HIV.
So while the H1N1 flu can be deadly, it most often is not. During this time of concern, we should remember how few other deadly diseases lurk in our populations. (that doesn't mean I don't wake in the middle of the night worried about my own children). As Americans, most of us should be grateful that we cannot imagine the toll of grief that the long history of African disease can impose on a community.
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