Chapter 49 Prevention and Control of Disease
December 7, 1866. East African Colonies.
Great Lakes Region (Lake Victoria), Mwanza.
Today, the Great Lakes District has the largest colonial immigrant population in East Africa after the Upper Coast District. It is located next to the Mwanza Bay of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria).
The Great Lakes region is rich in water resources, fertile land, and has a mild climate. The Great Lakes (Victoria) are formed by accumulated water in the basin and are the source of the Nile River. It is located between the Great Rift Valley Zone of East Africa, and the East African colonies currently control the southern shore of the Great Lakes region, while other areas are in the hands of indigenous people.
The first primitive fishing industry in the East African colonies also started here. They were simple canoes used to catch fish in the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) to supplement their meat.
Today's Great Lake (Lake Victoria) does not cause ecological diversity damage due to the introduction of Nile perch farming in later generations.
So the specialty freshwater fish in the big lake are relatively diverse, and the lake water is not polluted, so it is reassuring to eat.
The Great Lakes region is a relatively humid and rainy area in Africa. The vast area of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) directly changes the local climate environment.
In sub-Saharan Africa, humidity is not necessarily a good term. For example, Nigeria and Congo in later generations were hotbeds of tropical diseases.
Mosquitoes are also very difficult to deal with in East Africa because the equator passes through the middle of Africa. In most parts of Africa, the temperature basically remains above 20 degrees, which is suitable for mosquito breeding all year round.
A large number of infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever are transmitted to humans through mosquitoes.
In later generations, East Africa was the hardest hit area by malaria and other diseases. In addition to low medical standards, the biggest problem was the proliferation of mosquitoes.
In his previous life, Ernst worked in Tanzania. Although the protective measures were relatively good, there were so many mosquitoes in Africa that Ernst was infected with malaria twice.
This was the 21st century. Ernst, a modern man, was still infected with the blessing of mosquito nets and mosquito coils. One can imagine how terrifying Africa is in the eyes of Europeans in this era.
So far, most of the European colonies in Africa have been narrow coastal plains and have not dared to go deep into the interior.
The Ottoman Empire has the largest land area in Africa, mainly in North Africa and Ethiopia. The second is the Portuguese, who opened up colonies in Angola and Mozambique. The third is France, mainly in small amounts in North Africa and West Africa. Land, finally the Cape Colony under the British, other countries, Spain, the Netherlands can be ignored.
So Ernst's East African colony has become unique in Africa, being the first colony to penetrate deep into the interior plateau of Africa.
The Portuguese colony was also relatively large, but the Portuguese's management was relatively rough. They used the method of controlling the indigenous tribes by controlling the indigenous tribes, fanning the flames everywhere, and finally reaping the benefits.
Although the East African colonies were as dark as the crows in the world, Ernst did run it as his own home. Although it sacrificed the interests of the indigenous people, it made it easier for future immigrants, and he was prepared to stay here for a long time.
Comparing the Portuguese colonies with the East African colonies, it is not too much to say that they are fishing from the lake. That is to say, the current environment is such that Portugal can get away with it. After World War II, African countries will still be kicked out by the indigenous people under the instigation of the United States and the Soviet Union.
Of course this is the history of the past life. Maybe this world will be annexed by the East African colonies. Anyway, Ernst will not let Mozambique go. He will not allow others to snore next to the bed.
The Portuguese have a criminal record. They had some thoughts about the Zanzibar Sultanate back then, but they were beaten up in the end.
There are also areas in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Portuguese also entered a few years ago, but finally withdrew due to an outbreak of disease among the indigenous people.
So the greedy Portuguese will take action on the East African colonies sooner or later. Ernst must always keep an eye on it. If the East African colonies develop smoothly, then it will be the Portuguese's turn to worry about their colonies.
The annual temperature in East Africa is above 20 degrees, causing mosquitoes to breed wantonly and various viruses to be relatively active.
The current disease is also the biggest problem that threatens the survival of immigrants, so rectifying the health problems in the East African colonies has always been a major event.
Among them, water sources near residences are strictly managed, and actions that pollute water sources are strictly prohibited.
Clean up shrubs, puddles and other environments suitable for mosquito breeding by fire attack, soil burial and other methods.
In large waters, release some fish, the natural enemies of mosquito larvae, to control the size of their species. In the East African colonies, diseases such as malaria were like a lottery, picking out the unlucky immigrants among the immigrants. Fortunately, quinine had appeared in this era.
Ernst also specially introduced cinchona tree species from South America and cultivated them in suitable places in East Africa, as well as various Chinese herbal medicines.
Western medicine is still relatively metaphysical and not fully mature. , bloodletting is still the mainstream treatment method among contemporary doctors. In 1833 alone, France still imported more than 40 million leeches.
Fortunately, more and more scholars are beginning to question the theories that oppose traditional Western medicine. Ernst is in an era of transition from traditional Western medicine to modern medicine.
The 19th century was the era of rapid development of Western medicine. 1816 Merck (US), 1849 Pfizer (US), 1859 Novartis (Switzerland), 1863 Bayer (Germany), 1873 Glaxo (UK), 1875 SmithKline (UK), 1888 Abbott (US) ), Roche (Switzerland) and other Western medicine companies were established in 1896, and mankind entered the era of Western medicine.
It is undeniable that in some current European and American medical laboratories, countless crystallizations of medical wisdom may be bursting out, and they will completely replace the status of traditional medicine in the next few decades.
But this process is long and will continue until the 20th century before the edifice of modern medicine can be completely established.
Although cutting-edge medicine has advanced by leaps and bounds, the mainstream clinical medicine in the current era is still practiced by traditional "old Western medicine".
The understanding of diseases, bacteria and viruses by these "old Western doctors" who have not yet been eliminated is still stuck in the previous era. There is no concept of anesthesia, hemostasis and disinfection in surgery. Therefore, relatively outrageous medical accidents often occur.
Ernst did not dare to gamble with them, so it was more reassuring to find those prescriptions that were experienced and had few side effects.
In addition to obtaining some local herbal medicines from the indigenous people of East Africa, we also look for some mature and reliable medicines from traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.
For example, cinchona, artemisia annua, and other drugs that are effective against malaria. Ernst is not a medical student and does not understand how to handle these drugs.
Having medicine on hand is better than myrrh, if the colonial immigrants unfortunately get malaria.
I can only use these two to boil water for drinking. It’s not that I don’t want to use the extracted medicine, but the cost is too high. The colony is so big and has a large population. The expenses in all aspects are not small. In addition to growing medicine, Apart from labor costs, there are almost no additional costs.
The land is all ready. As long as the environment is suitable, you can plant as much as you want. However, the price of ordering medicines from Europe is high.
At present, the most effective way to prevent and control infectious diseases in the East African colonies is isolation. Once problems are discovered, they are isolated separately.
The immune system is good and you can survive it. If you cannot survive it, you will have to die in pain.
Of course Ernst also purchased some drugs, but due to traffic reasons, most of the drugs were in the Upper Binhai District, which is closest to the seaport.
The inland lags behind in the supply of materials and medicines, so this requires the colonial strongholds in the inland to exert greater subjective initiative than the Upper Binhai District.
Multiple organizations organized immigrants to carry out sanitation and cleaning activities, centralized planning and management of garbage and excrement, eliminate mosquito habitats, plant mosquito repellent plants (East Africa is the origin of pyrethrum)...
In order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases to the greatest extent, in the current era, it can be said that the East African colonial immigrants have the world's leading concept of hygiene.
They may not know what hygiene is, but they know that their superiors ask them not to litter, eat food, or defecate anywhere...
These are all enforced by the colonial management , otherwise violators will be severely punished.
In fact, the colonial management did not have much concept of hygiene, but Ernst forced the colonies to follow his instructions, and Ernst told the colonial management openly that these were the requirements of European experts. conclusion.
Whether colonial officials believed it or not, after following Ernst's words, the disease in the East African colonies was indeed controlled at a low level.
Compared with the colonies of other countries, the effect is remarkable, even better than some mature regions and countries, such as Mozambique next door and India in South Asia.
(End of this chapter)