digging wells in Africa

 

we did a similar project when I worked in Africa in the 1970s: THe pumps were bought by a grant but the construction and digging was done by locals.

ancient epidemics

 

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...but is tularemia that infectious since it spread via ticks or contaminated meat? 

discussion here:

more here.

Modern epidemics of tularemia:

Actually I suspect it might have been bubonic plague, since it returned to the Hittites with Egyptian POWs...

diseases change: they often get less virulent with time, so the esymptomes might be diffrent.

And sometimes one wonders if anyone has common sense: The famous story in the Bible about the Philistines retuning the Arc of the Covenant because of an epidemic of hemorrhods, and which included golden mice with the arc, is obviously a mistranslation: Bubos in the groin (necrotic abcesses) are not the same as hemorrhoids, but I can't think of any fatal epidemic that causes heorrhoids, so I suspect this is a mistranslation.

the US Military has several books on biological warfare including which disease could be used. The Black death was used by the Mongols and attributed to the spreaed in Europe. The Japanese experiments in China during world war II including cholera and tularemia killed an estimated 400 thousand civilians.

the only biological attack on the USA was when the Germans introduced foot and mouth disease into the USA during World War I, or the cult that infected salads with salmonella to make people too sick to vote against them in an election...

the animal diseases are also a threat: a lot of the beriberi during the Philippine was against Spain and then the USA was because there was an epidemic of foot and mouth disease that killed the animals that were used to plant rice, and the imported white rice lacked the vitamin of brown rice, so people died of beriberi.

Healthy lunches: Michelle Obama's lunch program and now RFKJr.

a lot of junk advertisements in this video, but if you forward to 28 minutes they discuss healthy foods in the schools initiative sponsored by Michelle Obama, that failed due to politics, but also because those who chose the foods didn't understand you have to make the food palatable for the ones eating it (i.e. theoretical knowledge on healthy food, but not cultural knowledge of how to make it taste good, or to introduce food that will be accepted by children raised in a different culture than upper middle class elite women).

Sigh

one does hope that RFK Jr will ask Michelle Obama to help out in this project.

but if they do, they need to include people knowledgeable of the culture: When I worked in the IHS we didn't introduce foods from the fancy elite dietary types, but we taught how to make their favorite foods in a healthy way: Whole wheat for fry bread, less sugar and less salt in the diet, use vegetable oil instead of lard, include more vegetable dishes, include fruit as snacks, etc.

Sleeping sickness in Zimbabwe

 CDC report.

T.b. rhodesiense is endemic in 13 countries.† Since 2011, reported rhodesiense HAT cases have been steadily declining, with only 24 cases reported in 2023...

Between this patient’s presentation in August 2024 and January 2025 three additional cases of rhodesiense HAT were reported to WHO in persons from nonendemic countries who were bitten by a tsetse fly while traveling in the Zambezi Valley.

The Zambezi Valley spans northern Zimbabwe and southern Zambia, where epidemiologic conditions are similar, and the parasite is endemic. These four cases are the first Zambezi Valley–associated cases reported since 2019, although Zambia has experienced human cases in other areas during this period....

BMC 2021 

In the 1980s and 1990s, great strides were taken towards the elimination of tsetse and animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT) in Zimbabwe. However, advances in recent years have been limited. Previously freed areas have been at risk of reinvasion, and the disease in tsetse-infested areas remains a constraint to food security. article

The patterns of tsetse and AAT distributions in Zimbabwe are shaped by a combination of bioclimatic factors, historical events such as the rinderpest epizootic at the turn of the twentieth century

the rinderpest killed a lot of the wild animals so the flies had nothing to bite; the white settlers kept the wild population down by hunting, and when I lived in Zimbabwe,  there was a fenced off zone to keep animals and flies from migrating south from the Zambesi area, and extensive spraying to control flies was done. PDF.

and extensive and sustained tsetse control that is aimed at progressively eliminating tsetse and trypanosomiasis from the entire country. 

The comprehensive dataset assembled in the atlas will improve the spatial targeting of surveillance and control activities. It will also represent a valuable tool for research, by enabling large-scale geo-spatial analyses....

The tsetse-infested area in Zimbabwe is currently estimated at 30,000 km2, which corresponds to 17% of the 180,000 km2 ecologically suitable area originally infested by tsetse [10]. In particular, tsetse distribution in Zimbabwe has always been restricted to the north, northwest, northeast and southeast of the country with the central highveld being ecologically unsuitable for the fly.

fake cows that smell like cows and attract the flies are one means of control....2001 article BMJ...

the cows were introduced into Zimbabwe in the mid-1980s, when thousands of cattle were infected with nagana, a disease equivalent to sleeping sickness in cattle. Cases of nagana in the country plummeted to almost zero and have remained at this low level for the past five years. A total of 60000 cows are now in use in Zimbabwe...

TED talk about genetically altering cattle to stop the disease

cross posted from my Africa blog

NGO scams

 

Maybe the biggest scam of all time https://t.co/DVl37h3bJ4

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2025

Even the woke NYT admits covid was probably a lab leak?

A miracle has happened. The NY Times ran an oped acknowledging not only that the covid virus likely originated in a lab, but that government officials and scientists conspired to keep the substantiating evidence secret. The lab leak theory was censored on social media because… pic.twitter.com/QjXVtF46nF

— Jenin Younes (@JeninYounesEsq) March 16, 2025

This serves as a stark reminder that government uses censorship in order to hide its own misdeeds; free speech is necessary to hold the government accountable. That's one of the reasons the framers included the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights

— Jenin Younes (@JeninYounesEsq) March 16, 2025

\

 

This documentary was released on April 7, 2020. It got millions of views but was highly censored. Why?

Tracking Down the Origin of Wuhan Coronavirus | Documentary

As the world is gripped by the ongoing pandemic, many questions remain about the origin of the Chinese Communist… pic.twitter.com/HxoJOqDxj5

— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) February 27, 2025

that alas won't post: you have to watch it on x.

However, this is from 3 years ago:

,,,

this is the latest report from last week, from the UK SUN a tabloid of course.

a reminder:

folic acid Autism and fragile x syndrome

see post below about a folic acid type vitamin used to treat young children with autistic symptoms. There was some speculation about this, mainly if folic acid would help the symptoms of our autistic patients with Fragile X syndrome when I worked with the mentally disabled back in the 1980s: 

But alas there was no proof that the vitamin helped the symptoms, although our fragile X/severe autism patients were adults and had mental retardation.

I should note that not all fragile x syndrome patients are autistic or mentally slow so probably they are not diagnosed as such.

...

So I asked grok about the linkage of fragile x syndrome, a  rare cause of autism, and it's relationship to folic acid.

Grok answered:

 It seems like you're asking about the relationship between Fragile X syndrome, autism, and folic acid. Let me break this down and provide some insight based on current understanding.

Fragile X Syndrome and Autism

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a genetic condition caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome. This mutation leads to a deficiency in the FMRP protein, which is critical for brain development and function. FXS is the most common single-gene cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with about 30-50% of individuals with FXS also meeting the criteria for ASD. Symptoms of FXS can include intellectual disability, developmental delays, anxiety, hyperactivity, and autistic-like behaviors such as social difficulties and repetitive actions.

The link between FXS and autism stems from overlapping neurological impacts, particularly in how the brain processes sensory input and forms connections. However, not all individuals with FXS have autism, and the severity of symptoms varies widely.

Folic Acid Connection

Folic acid, a synthetic form of folate (vitamin B9), is essential for DNA synthesis, repair, and methylation processes, which are critical during fetal development. In the context of Fragile X syndrome, folic acid has been studied for its potential therapeutic effects, though the evidence is mixed.

• Historical Context: In the 1980s and 1990s, some researchers hypothesized that high doses of folic acid might help alleviate symptoms of FXS by supporting DNA methylation or compensating for metabolic disruptions caused by the FMR1 mutation. Early studies showed modest improvements in behavior or attention in some children with FXS, but these findings were inconsistent and not universally replicated.
• Current Understanding: More recent research suggests that folic acid does not directly address the core deficits of FXS or its associated autism traits. The FMR1 mutation disrupts protein production rather than folate metabolism, so folic acid supplementation isn’t a cure or a primary treatment. However, folate plays a broader role in neurodevelopment, and deficiencies during pregnancy are linked to increased risks of developmental disorders in general, though not specifically FXS.

Autism and Folic Acid (Broader Context)

For autism unrelated to FXS, studies have explored prenatal folic acid supplementation (typically recommended at 400-800 mcg daily) to reduce ASD risk. Some evidence suggests that adequate folate intake before and during early pregnancy may lower the likelihood of autism in the general population, possibly by supporting neural tube development and gene expression. However, this is not a treatment for existing autism or FXS-related autism.

Summary

• Fragile X and Autism: Strongly linked, with FXS being a leading genetic cause of ASD.
• Folic Acid: Not a proven treatment for FXS or its autism symptoms, though it was once explored with limited success. It remains crucial for general prenatal health.
• Research Status: As of March 12, 2025, no major breakthroughs have established folic acid as a standard therapy for FXS or autism, but studies on nutrition and neurodevelopment continue.

If you’d like, I can search the web or X posts for the latest discussions or studies on this topic—let me know! Alternatively, if you have a more specific question (e.g., about a study, treatment, or personal experience), feel free to clarify.