1968 Southern Rakeo malaria epidemic
| Date | April 15, 1967 – March 12, 1976 |
|---|---|
| Location | Southern/Central Sur |
| Also known as | Rakeoian Malaria Outbreak |
| Cause | Flooding Water infrastructure breakdown Mismanagement of health resources |
| Deaths | 15,000-40,000 (Rakeoian sources) 20,000-100,000 (Independent research) |
| Publication bans | Rakeo (partial) |
The 1967 Southern Rakeo malaria epidemic was the largest outbreak of Creeperian Malaria in Rakeo in the 20th century. Triggered by severe flooding and made worse through both negligence and intentional policy, discussion of the government's response to the epidemic is largely censored in modern Rakeo.
April flash floods
The collapse of the civilian government led to waterway infrastructure across the country, but particularly in the rural interior, going without maintenance. Infrastructure like dams, weirs, and pumping stations, already strained from lack of maintenance, were unable to cope with the increased load of the floods and began to fail. The resulting stagnant floodwaters made for exceptional breeding grounds for mosquitos, which began to spread Malaria to nearby areas.
Government response
The epidemic was exacerbated by government response. Draining of waterlogged areas around the region was piecemeal as local authorities were left to deal with the crisis without broader support. Isolationist policies prohibiting foreign imports continued, in spite of the rapid depletion of the national stock of quinine. Quinine growing plants like the cinchona tree are killed by the harshness of Rakeo’s winters, and synthetic production, being non-economical, had not been pursued in prior years.
Instead of lifting bans on foreign imports, then Head of State Ricardo Cornelio recommended that sufferers find 'patriotic medicines' that grew within the homeland. Other government officials told malaria patients to use willow bark to alleviate their symptoms. While willow bark can reduce fevers, it has no direct impact on the parasite that causes Malaria disease. As the disease swept through Southern Rakeo, patients not getting access to antimalarials resulted in large excess mortality.
Extermination efforts against Aedes creeperiacae led to the creation of the Military Agency for Extermination. The epidemic was declared over in 1976, with no new malaria cases appearing for the past six months in the Southern Sur region.
Legacy
The Military Agency for Extermination was civilianized to the Directory of the Environment and Extermination in 1981, and continued in its mission to remove threats to Rakeo's ecology and public health. While Malaria remains a threat to health in Rakeo, in 2014, it reported an average of 20 deaths per year attributable to the parasite.
