Roundup: Panic as jiggers hit southwestern Tanzanian villages

Villagers in southwestern Tanzania's district of Rungwe are in a panic due to the outbreak of jigger flea infestation.

The area is located on the slopes of Mount Rungwe, one of the potentially active volcanoes in the east African nation.

The new outbreak of the parasitic fleas has made some villagers to desert their homes.

Jiggers are small parasitic fleas, also known as chigoe flea, which usually enter their victims through their feet, causing parts of the body to rot leading to a horrific death.

Itete is a highly affected village in Rungwe District, 890 km south-west of Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

Musa Mwasota, one of the villagers who have been affected with the parasitic fleas, told Xinhua that his family was forced to leave the village.

"I have moved my family into another village because of jiggers. We don't know why this year our village is highly affected with the parasitic fleas."

He had used a wide range of medications from traditional herbs to artificial drugs, but nothing worked, he said.

According to Mwasota, 50 to 60 people have deserted their homes because of the parasitic flea, which is capable of jumping up to 20 centimetres, lives in the soil and feeds intermittently on warm-blooded hosts, especially pigs.

Jiggers usually infect the feet of pigs, which leave behind the chigoe flea as they move and end up infecting those around, including humans.

Brown Mahela is another villager. "We even asked for help from a traditional healer, but in vain. So, leaving our homes was the only option to rescue our lives."

Edson Afwenye, a village chief, described the infestations as serious.

"We have informed responsible authorities to chip in and address the health problem in the village," the village leader said.

"We're encouraging villagers to improve their living environment as we're being told that the parasites are contributed with the unhygienic environment," Afwenye said.

Rungwe District Council chairman Ezekiel Mwakota said improving hygiene in residential areas is a lasting solution to the problem.

"We've sent a team of health experts into the area to see how big the problem is," said Mwakota.

Humphrey Mazigo, a medical researcher from Weill-Bugando University, in Lake Zone Tanzania, said tungiasis infestation is common in Tanzanian communities living under extreme poverty characterized by poor housing condition and inadequate health services.

"This problem may cause severe morbidities," he said, suggesting the need for Tanzanian government to work on the challenge. Endit