Testing Diseases In The West Nile District Of Uganda

In Uganda, people from the West Nile District, in particular, were used as experimental test objects for biological weapons. The region is intensively cultivated for agricultural purposes. There are 250 people per square mile in Lugbara Plateau, for example.

In 1900, armed Belgians appeared and made the inhabitants tributary subjects to their chief, King Leopold. However, in 1908, armed British appeared, who on the basis of arrangements between their chief and King George and King Leopold forced the West Nile people to pay tributes to the British crown.

The inhabitants' freedom of movement was is limited, and can easily be controlled by the state boundaries with Sudan in the north, Zaire, formerly Congo in the east, Lake Mobutu Sese-Seko in the south, and the Albert-Nile which several kilometers broad, in the west.

Two border crossing points to the south and also to Zaire and a bridge and ferry over the Nile. These are the connections of the district which is 190 km long and 75 km broad to the outside world. In 1969, 600,000 inhabitants lived there.

It was, therefore easy for the observers to monitor the spread of diseases. Quotations from scientific articles point to this fact: In Uganda, there exists a natural experiment within small distances, people of different ethnic stock live in similar environments and vice versa.

This is how the scientists characterized conditions for their experiments in the West Nile District. The results of their efforts:

• In 1973, 66% of the children in one study, which included 46,000 children mainly from three regions around Kuluva, were infected with HI virus.

• Only there, prior to the onset of the mass Aids diseases, were temporal and local clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma. These were so marked that they proved an infectious cause.

• Only there were temporal and local clusters of Burkitt's lymphomas in children, also proved of an infectious cause.

• The highest rate of antibodies against Epstein-Barr viruses in the world came up over there. EBV "type B" is only found beside New Guinea, in West Nile district, and on the Isle of Reunion.

• The largest incidences in the world of Schistosoma mansoni-infections have been achieved there. It was limited to the area around the village of Pakwach on the Nile and allegedly remained inexplicable. Schistosoma mansoni has a perpetual immunosuppressing effect.

• The largest incident in the world of Mycobacteriul ulcerans was observed there.

• HTLV-I, a human immunodeficiency retrovirus is found there in large quantities. The 21% incidence rate indicated is one of the highest ever described.

• The Congo Virus was described there by the British and South African specialists.