Residents of several villages in the SW district of Sheema have been afflicted by outbreaks of tungiasis, a parasitosis caused by female jiggers - the parasitic sand fleas burrow into the skin of humans (and animals) to feed on the blood meals necessary for incubating their eggs. The fleas become enlarged, causing irritation and pain, and can result in ‘abscesses, secondary infections, gangrene and disfigurement’, according to a WHO factsheet. Tungiasis is found most commonly in areas of poverty in tropical and sub-tropical regions, where people go barefoot and live in sub-standard housing with dirt floors. Read more
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