New-York tribune., 1920-12-19
Malady, / aazzle
ToExperts, Is
Sweeping gElaytii
Doctors Unable to Discover
Source of the Mysterious
Disease That l. Fatal to
1000 Natives Every Y ear
WhitePopulation Immune
Ailment Usually Starts il, the
Feet and Spreads Upward:
Body Becomes Swollen
By Wilbur F forrest

tOR C-1 hlNAEl, ItdNti. uoC. L.
The American occupation Of Nayti has
served to direct medical research into
one Of the most battling and pcrhaps
fatal maladies known TO modern medl-
cine
Hayt is a land of 100000 people
The most conservative estimate, based
on twelve months Of historical research
into Hayti's mysterious disease, is that
n million HaytianS have succumbed to
the malady in the last fifty years Here
where native productivity is truly syn
onomous with eXtravagant tropical YER
dure, death rate of 10000 a year. or
nearly 1,700 a month, has not served TO
worry the nationals.
For the last five years American
medical officers have noticed that lower
caste HaytianS, sent to prison, develop
an alarming condition there and die at
rate OF from so to 90 per cent Of
those affected.
Only during the last twelve months
have the causes and effects of these
alarming deaths been studied and recog-
nized as separate disease. The dis
covery was made a year ago by DR.. W
L. Mann, surgeon of the United States
Navy, a native of Austin, Tex. whose
naval rank is that of Lieutenant Com
mander. supervising the entire medical
department of the American controlled
Gendarmerie d'Hayti
Dr. Mann is graduate of Harvard
Medical School, holder of several col
lege degrees and has spent the major
part of his time in tropical and sub
tropical countries. His writings on
preventive medicine and tropical DIS
ease and long experience equipped him
to point out this mysterious disease soon
after his arrival in Hayti.
Cause Undetermined
Aided by all the medical Officers If
the gendarmerie in an intensive re-
search. DR.. Mann told The Tribune
here that nothing has developed which
may definitely determine the cause Of
the disease, which if ascertained and
measures taken to combat would re
suit in the saving OF possibly more
than 10000 lives annually.
The disease has three manifestations
Dr.. Mann told The Tribune. One of
the most notable symptoms is swell
ing OF certain parts of the body. The
flesh becomes waterlogged or "dropsi-
cal" 1t usually begins in the feet
and spreads upward
Another form is the dry OF emaciated
type. The patient shows marked enact
alton and dwindles almost to skin and
bones. Often dropsical changes to dry
and vice versa. 1t is not unusual to
see patient almost living skeleton
then develop the wet condition and
with the retention of fluid in the body
gain twenty or thirty pounds in i few
days and become so swollen up that
recognition Of his features is difficult
One OF the mysteries of the disease
IS that women seldom, if ever, contract
1t. One medical officer in Hayti has
observed more than 1000 cases without
finding single case among females
A. one time during Dr. Mann's inves-
tlgatlons women were supposed TO be
entlrel, immune. Finally three cases
among women developed at the sam
dwelling place. This combination q
circumstances suggested a disease &C
an infectious nature.
Disease Appears Suddenly
A third manifestation of the maladv
is that which suggests plague From
to % per cent Of the fatalities take
place in persons who do not complain
OF any symptoms. A person win ap-
pear in perfect health; then, without
warning, fall in faint and gradually
expire.
Though the grouping of Haytian ne
groes IN prisons called Dr.. Mann's at
tentlon to the disease. he is reasonably
certain that it is not due to confne-
ment, as in some prisons the malady
is entirely absent. Before the advent
Of Americans in Hay,i the prisons
were quagmres where prisoners were
thrown to subsist on food smuggled in
By relatives or starve. To-day, under
American supervision, the prisons are
models Of cleanliness, but sanitation
has not served 10 eradicate the mvs-
terious disease. Infection almost has
been eliminated BY research as the
cause. imprisonment possibly aids the
malady, but it is not entirely respon-
sibe, as numerous natives who never
saw prison succumD. Research
brought the possible cause to the ques-
ton Of faulty diet, especially in
prisons On this question Dr.. Mann
Was non-committal- As he expressed
1t: "The evidence accumulated up to
the present date regarding diet as a
factor IS conflicting and unconvncing.
Diet may or may not be Al fault, and
am not prepared % express a definite
opinion on this subject"
Many Leads Developed
Dr.. Mann's researches, he told The
Tribune, have developed many leads,
bot when one theory seems 70 have