The three environmentally related diseases endemic in the Ongoye region : pattern and control
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Date
1992
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Abstract
The prevalence of the three diseases namely malaria fever,
typhoid fever and bilharzia (schistosomiasis) comes about as a
result of the nature of the environment together with human
invasion of such an environment. The most important factor is
that, without the human invasion of the environment, there could
be no prevalence of these three diseases.ยท This, therefore,
suggests that humans have invaded the mosquito environment and
thus contracted malaria fever and spread the same to others.
Hum,ans have also invaded the water environment by contaminating
water with their excreta and thus spread typhoid fever and
bilharzia (schistosomiasis). The three diseases, malaria fever, typhoid fever, and bilharzia
<schistosomiasis) are considered to be troublesome in many areas
of the republic of South Africa <Kustner,1990 and Kassner,1990.)
The area of investigation, the Ongoye region, is no exception to
this rule. It is this widespread occurence of the three diseases
which influenced the researcher to conduct this study. The
apparent ineffectiveness of both the KwaZulu government and the
communities in the study area to combat these diseases has left
me, as an investigator in deep thought as to what is to be done
to eradicate these diseases. During the preliminary
investigations it was observed that the pattern and control
majors of these diseases are apparently known to the KwaZulu
government and the communities, but still the occurrence cannot
be completely prevented. Some control measures are seemingly
practised by the same government with no apparent reduction in
the number of occurrences of these diseases.
This inquiry is therefore interested in finding out the pattern
and the extent to which such pattern affects the control
measures. The inquiry further seeks to find out the extent to
which the KwaZulu government and the communities have tried to
combat or eradicate the diseases inquestion.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfilment of B.A. Honours Degree requirements in the Department of Geography at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1992.
Keywords
Environmentally induced diseases, Malaria fever, Typhoid fever, Bilharzia