Disease in africa
Disease in africaDisease in Africa
"The fact remains that lowland, tropical Africa may well have the most intractable disease environment in the world."(Bohannan & Curtin,35) In order to understand diseases in Africa, one must first be acquainted with its geology. Africa is a gigantic landmass that is over 5200 miles long and 4600 miles wide. The continent is a vast plateau with five different types of physical regions. The first type of physical region is called the Mediterranean -type climates. This type of region provides Africa with nutritious land for vegetation. Next there is the deserts and arid plains, located inland. The Sahara and the Kalahari deserts are located here. Then there is the savanna regions, which are covered with grass and trees. The savanna regions occupy the largest physical region in all of Africa. The region along the equator is made up of thick and humid forest growth. This type of physical region is located in the Congo Basin along the equator. It is important to understand the geology of Africa, because many of the diseases, which were born, had a lot to do with the climate and land region they were growing in. Africa has struggled with many different types of disease within their society due to their type of land, climate and weather. "Among all the diverse natural environments of the earth, tropical rain forests are the most variegated in the sense that more diverse forms of life share this kind of habitat than occupy drier, cooler regions."(McNeill,16) Africa possesses the prefect breeding ground for many diseases. There were many diseases and viruses that have had an impact on Africa, however trypanosomiasis, malaria, yellow fever, AIDS, smallpox, onchocerciasis and yaws were the most destructive.
African trypanosomiasis is a destructive disease that is often called "the sleeping sickness." It is an infectious disease that is carried and distributed through two different parasites. These parasites are the trypanosoma brucei gambiense and the trypanosoma rhodesiense. Both parasites host and breed on the tsetse fly. The tsetse fly is an inset that carries the disease through its bloodstream. When the insect bites, it injects the disease through flesh, which then spreads through the body. The tsetse fly is large and brown, making it easy to detect. The fly only usually bites during the day and does not consider humans a primary host. People who become prey, often involve themselves in areas where there is a lot of game activity. The disease, which is also an organism, attacks the central nervous system and tissue. This leads to a "sleep" like affect, which eventually ends in death. In the early 1900s, Uganda experienced devastating losses to its society due to trypanosomiasis. The disease ended up killing over 200,000 people in less than 6 years. "Understandably, the new colonial powers, including Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, and...
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