Bilharziasis in the Gezira irrigated area of the Sudan

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Abstract
1. The position as regards bilharzial infection in the irrigated area has deteriorated considerably. 2. Infection rate with S. haematobium is probably at least 20 per cent. in adults and 45 per cent. in children throughout the area, with a much higher rate in certain places. 3. Infection rate with S. mansoni is impossible to estimate, but it is known that the infection is widespread, and that there is a fairly high rate in certain widely scattered places. 4. All measures heretofore taken have failed to control spread of these diseases. 5. Future measures must be directed against the snail population in the canals, and the first step must be a great reduction of the weed growth. These and other measures are discussed. 6. An ecological study of bilharzial snails in this and other endemic areas in the country is necessary in order to evaluate future measures of control and to recommend others. 7. Bilharziasis is one of the important public health problems facing the Sudan, and its importance is even greater than in the past because there is likely to be considerable extension of the use of irrigation in the near future.