HUMAN EXCRETION BEHAVIOR IN A SCHISTOSOMIASIS ENDEMIC AREA OF THE GEIZIRA, SUDAN

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 84  (3) , 101-107
Abstract
A 12 mo. study of the excretory behavior of resident and migrant laborers in Gezira, Sudan, was undertaken to contribute base-line information towards the development of a new control strategy. Of 398 observed acts of excretion, 70% of urinations and 93% of defecations occurred in sites far removed from any water body. After excretion, only 31% of the people washed themselves (and only 7.1% actually washed their genital region directly into a water body). People excreting far from water were as likely to wash afterwards as those excreting near a water body. This contradicted previous expectations based on the hygienic precepts of Islam. Privacy is a more important consideration than proximity of water in the selection of a site for excretion. There is probably only limited regular contamination by S. mansoni eggs under the observed conditions.