Dreaded Diseases Schistosomiasis AIDS Virus Malaria Guinea Worm River Blindness

Vocabulary Terms Pandemic: a phenomenon, such as a disease, that is widespread & occurs over a vast geographic area. Epidemic: diseases which spread quickly & become widely prevalent throughout a given area. Endemic: diseases which are prevalent only in a particular area or group of people Famine: severe shortage of food Genocide: systematic, planned annihilation of a racial, political, or cultural group.

HIV/AIDS Kill more Africans than any other diseases other than malaria. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) or AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome 70 % of Sub-Saharan Africa are infected w/AIDS or HIV-positive

Malaria 90% of the world’s malaria cases are in Africa. 50% of Africa’s population has had malaria at any one time. Curable through medications.

River Blindness Caused by a parasitic worm transmitted from one person to another by the black fly. Invades skin & eyes, causing extreme itching and blindness. Can be prevented from a drug..

Sleeping Sickness 36 out of 55 countries carry this disease. Transmitted to humans & animals when bitten by an infected tsetse fly. Infection spreads to every organ in the body. Suffer from excruciating pain, fever, insomnia, & a sleep-like unconsciousness. Treated through medication. TseTse Fly

Schistosomiasis Waterborne disease. People are infected when they come in contact w/larvae carried by snails in infested water. Only rarely causes death.

Guinea Worm Transmitted by drinking contaminated water. Copepods carry larval parasites in the water. Female worm comes to the surface & forms a blister. It comes in contact w/water, bursts & more larval parasites are released. Takes weeks or months to pull the adult worm out, which is done by wrapping it around a stick. Painful & can cause permanent disability. Use a cloth fiber to catch the copepod vectors in the water.

Question- In your ISN write a ten sentence paragraph answering the following question from yesterday’s lesson. How do poor health care systems, poverty, ignorance of diseases and causes, as well as government organization, impact the standard of living in parts of Africa?