There are several diseases that are almost inclusively found among the people of Sub-Saharan Africa. Three in particular have greatly affected the population and the growth in that part of Africa. Those are Malaria, Tsetse, also known as the African sleeping sickness, and a hereditary blood disorder called Sickle Cell Anemia. These three have had the greatest affect on Sub-Saharan Africa. The population on Sub-Saharan Africa is dying off faster than it is being replaced. That is true particularly because of the fact that recently birth control companies are pushing abortion, pills, and other types of birth control in these countries of Africa. Millions upon millions of people die every year from one of the abovementioned diseases or a complication. Part of that is lack of health care, and lack of knowledge. Another part is the seriousness of the diseases and the poor situation of the country.

The tsetse disease is found only in Sub-Saharan Africa and in two localities in the Arabian Peninsula. People or livestock can be infected with the tsetse disease by being bitten by a tsetse fly. The flies drink blood from humans and livestock and get their name from the sound that they make when flying. Also Tsetse means “fly” in Tswana. There are 31 members in the genus Glossinidea, 23 species and 8 sub-species. The Tsetse fly is about 6-14 mm. and are more robust in form than the average fly. They are yellowish to brown and their abdomens are either uniformly colored or covered by stripes according to the species. Two distinctive characteristics are in the forward projecting proboscis and unusual hatchet shaped call formed by the wing formation. The hatchet call is found in the center of all of the wings. Another unusual thing about these flies is that the rate of reproduction is slower than most flies because the female can only produce one offspring every 9 to 12 days and it so weakens her that if she cannot find a blood host extremely soon she will die. The mother fly carries around the baby in her abdomen until the baby is even larger than the mother. At about that point she deposits it into the ground, if the ground is too hard or too soft, the baby can not get out in time and it will die. Also after crawling out of the ground the offspring cannot fly or reproduce for up to 3 days. Over 60 million people in 36 countries in Africa are threatened by this disease. Over 46 million cattle are infected and about 3 million die each year. The bite of the fly causes a disease called nagana in livestock, a fatal disease in cows and horses, and Sleeping Sickness in humans, which can be fatal if not treated. The parasites multiply in the blood causing bouts of fever and joint pain. If left unchecked the parasites can infect the central nervous system. In humans this leads to confusion, sensory disturbances, irreversible brain damage, and eventual death. Other symptoms of this horrible disease include red sores, fever, severe headaches, extreme fatigue, Aching muscles and joints, skin rash and eruptions, and many different brain symptoms. This disease is killing many people in Sub-Saharan Africa and is spreading through out more people every year. Tsetse has taken its toil on the people of Africa and it is steadily getting worse.

Malaria is another serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite. Malaria is one of the oldest known diseases in the history of the world. There are four different types of malaria parasites that can infect humans. They are Plasmodium Falciparum, Plasmodium Vivax, Plasmodium Ovale, and Plasmodium Malariae. The most dangerous of those four is the Plasmodium Falciparum. It is also the most likely to be fatal is not treated promptly and correctly. Malaria is a common disease found the world round but mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian sub continent and in people who have recently been to one of those two places. It is also the leading cause of death by diseases world wide. It causes 2 ½ million deaths a year, 1 million of which are children. In Africa, a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds. That is 7,884,000 children a year. Normally people contract malaria through being bitten by an infected female Anopheles Gambiae mosquito and they must have previously bitten an infected person. Because of infection by a mosquito bite is the most common type of transmission; airport malaria has become a problem. In that case apparently infected mosquitoes have been carried on to the plane in Africa and then released at the planes selected donation. Airport employees, passengers, and even people who live close by or drive by an airport have become infected. It can also be transmitted through blood transfusions, organ transplants, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood or from a mother to her child either before or during delivery because the malaria parasite is found in the red blood cells. When a person is first infected with malaria the parasite sits in the liver from eight days to several months, or even up to four years depending on the parasite they were infected with. This is known as the Incubation period. After the parasites enter the liver they multiple and eventually burst the liver cell and enter into the blood stream and there they become sexual and asexual. There the sexual cells are taken up into a mosquito when it bites the infected person and are later transmitted to the next person that the mosquito bites. The asexual enter blood cells until they burst that blood cell and then continue on to the next and continue that cycle. Malaria symptoms include fever, and flu like illness including shaking chills, headaches, muscle aches, and tiredness. Also the infected person may have Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Later on because of the loss of red blood cells they may have jaundice and anemia. Plasmodium Falciparum if not promptly treated may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, comas, and later on death. Until 1930 quinine was the only affective drug against malaria. Know there are ten known. But that is still not enough to stop the steady spread and deaths that malaria has cause already.

The hereditary blood disease of sickle cell anemia is the only sure way to not get malaria. Sickle cell anemia is characterized by episodes of pain, chronic hemolytic anemia, and sever infections that normally begin in early childhood. About eight percent of the African American population is carriers and it affects 1 in every 500. Sickle Cell Anemia is prevalent in Africans, and other ethnic groups from the Mediterranean area countries, Turkey, the Arabian Peninsula, Indian subcontinent, people f Spanish descent and those from the Caribbean, South America and Central America. Out of all those places Africa is the worst. Currently the treatment for it is blood transfusions with the complication of specific therapies. More than 50 percent of infected children do not reach their fifth birthday mainly because of limited medical care. Sickle Cell Anemia offers a major protection against malaria but leaves the carrier open to all sorts of infections. The carrier can not get malaria because of the unusual “sickle” shaped red blood cells. Because of the odd shaped cells the malaria parasites cannot enter into the red blood cells making it impossible for a person with Sickle Cell Anemia to become infected with malaria. That is true whether the person actually has Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) or whether they are just a carrier for the disease. For someone to actually contract SCA both of their parents must be carriers or infected. Therefore SCA has its problems of course, but for those that can be properly cared for SCA can help protect them from an even more deadly disease. If this cycle continues then the majority of people who do survive will be people who are sick with SCA. Because of that malaria is actually helping to spread SCA throughout the Sub-Saharan African population.

SCA, Malaria, and Tsetse have helped to shape the population of Sub-Saharan Africa. They have helped to thin it, with the help of anti-reproduction companies. Many people have died from those three diseases. The main victim of all three diseases has been children. The population of Africa is growing steadily older has their children succumb to different diseases. During the time it has taken you to read this, at least 100 children have died from one of the aforementioned diseases, mainly because of lack of health care in there village or from a misunderstanding on how to treat their illness. SCA, Malaria, and Tsetse have all taken their toll in Africa.

1. How often does a child die from Malaria?
a. Every minute
b. Every Hour
c. Every 30 seconds
d. Every 30 minutes

2. How is the Tsetse disease transmitted?
a. Being bitten by an infected mosquito
b. Being bitten by an infected fly
c. If their parents are carriers
d. By being around someone who has it

3. How can someone get SCA
a. Being bitten by an infected mosquito
b. Being bitten by an infected fly
c. If their parents are carriers
d. By being around someone who has it

4. What does SCA stand for?
a. Student Council Association
b. Systemic Cycle Allergy
c. Sickle Cell Anemia
d. Sickle Cancer Antibodies

Sources
http://www.rph.wa.gov.au/labs/haem/malaria/history.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sicklecellanemia.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/uncpress/chapters/wailoo_dying.html
http://www.nri.org/news/tsetsemore.htm
http://www.bloodjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/102/3/834
http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/faq.htm#disease
www.insects.org.uk/tsetse
http://radiographics.rsnajnls.org/cgi/content/abstract/21/4/971

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