Konzo prevention in six villages in the DRC and the dependence of konzo prevalence on cyanide intake and malnutrition.

Six villages in Boko Health Zone, Bandundu Province, DRC, were studied with 4588 people, 144 konzo cases and konzo prevalences of 2.0-5.2%.

Effectiveness of wetting method for control of konzo and reduction of cyanide poisoning by removal of cyanogens from cassava flour.

Background: Konzo is an irreversible paralysis of the legs that occurs mainly among children and young women in remote villages in tropical Africa and is associated with a monotonous diet of bitter cassava. Konzo was discovered in 1938 by Dr. G.

Higher levels of neutralizing antibodies against KSHV in KS patients compared to asymptomatic individuals from Zambia.

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiologic agent for Kaposi Sarcoma (KS), the most common cancer diagnosed in HIV- infected patients. The role of neutralizing antibodies in KS pathogenesis and in KSHV infected individuals is not clearly understood. The goal of this study was to investigate and compare the prevalence and titers of neutralizing antibodies in plasma samples from KS patients and KSHV infected asymptomatic individuals from Zambia, a KS endemic region in sub-Saharan Africa.

Control of konzo by detoxification of cassava flour in three villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Three villages in Boko Health Zone, Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), had 61 konzo cases and konzo prevalences of 2.5%, 4.1% and 7.

Control of konzo in DRC using the wetting method on cassava flour.

Fifty konzo cases were identified in four villages in Popokabaka Health Zone, DRC. One third of people had only one meal per day, mainly of cassava flour consumed as a thick porridge (fufu) and pounded, boiled cassava leaves. Retention of cyanogens in flour resulted from short soaking of cassava roots.