Malaria

We have briefly discussed the effects of malaria on populations in the New World. However, it was not until I recently read an article by National Geographic that I realized how serious the disease is. (It should be noted that study done by the magazine was in Africa, but there has to be some level of similarity in the Caribbean and the extreme south east of North America during times of settlement.) The article reported that malaria kills over 1 million people a year currently, and is the single biggest killer of children under 5 in Sub-Sahara Africa. This is devastating to the peoples who encounter the disease because it devastates the body leaving them virtually incapacitated for weeks at a time if it does not kill them. For adults the encounter the disease it puts a financial burden on the family because they cannot work, and for the children it is usually deadly leaving the family without continuing lineage.

Imagine these circumstances 300 years ago in the New World. There was no DDT to control the disease carrying mosquito population. (The World Health organization is considering lifting the ban on DDT.) Indentured servants and slaves alike worked in damp rice paddies which attracted the insects. There was no escaping the disease for many that were not immune due to sickle cell anemia or prior contact. For those servants that contracted the parasite their was limited health care due to the cost and availability which made recovery difficult if not impossible. Because of the limited amount of control early settlers have over the disease it had to play a large role in mortality rates in the Americas.