CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Anicet L.Quenum, Benin, January 1999
THEME = HEALTH
A new menace to Africa's health
A new scourge seems about to endanger Africa's development. It's called the Buruli Ulcer. Its pernicious effects and rapid spread in West Africa causes concern not only among health specialists, but also among politicians.
Clinically, the Buruli Ulcer shows up as a chronic sore, caused by a bacterium related to that of leprosy and tuberculosis. Until very recently, it was regarded as a "killer" in Benin. Today, the sick are better provided for, at least in so far as their care is concerned, although there's still a great deal of uncertainty attached to any cure for the Buruli Ulcer. In any case, it takes a long time to cure the ulcer.
The Buruli Ulcer first appeared in Benin in 1988, and leaves medicine defenceless in the absence of any really effective drugs. All that can be done at the moment is to track down its cause, and use all possible means available, medical, surgical and natural remedies, to treat the ulcer.
It could be that the launch of a National Programme Against the Buruli Ulcer will help both those who have the ulcer and the medical authorities. A centre for screening and treatment has been opened at Lalo, in the south west of Benin.
This is a great step forward, though still inadequate. Further investigations are needed to figure out the bacterium's mode of transmission. For the moment, all we have are hypotheses. One is that it is respiratory, as with tuberculosis. Another suggests actual bodily contact, as with leprosy. While a third, based on superstition poses witchcraft and black magic.
All the specialists agree that the bacterium lives and holds sway in the tropics, in small households in close contact with water, especially if this is polluted. Hence, the name "The Fish Disease" given it by some people in Benin. Others simply call it an "incurable sore".
In Benin, the Buruli Ulcer has already been categorised as a major health problem, with 3,000 cases diagnosed so far. In West Africa, this ailment ranks third in infectious diseases after leprosy and tuberculosis.
Is it a rival to AIDS, or its fellow-traveller?
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