RF Annual Report - 1935 - The Rockefeller Foundation

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH DIVISION 49
organization of two treatment units, which since
1933 have been highly successful in bringing the
disease under control in areas where its incidence
had been very high. During 1934 the Foundation,
in addition to cooperating with the government
in the treatment units, maintained a research
unit which made important studies of the epidemiology
of yaws, including animal experiments.
During the last half of 1934 and the first
half of 1935 there was conducted an island-wide
survey to determine the distribution of yaws in
Jamaica and the correlation between the presence
of yaws and such factors as rainfall, soil and
geological formations, and the social and economic
status of the people. This study has been
completed. The disease appears to be prevalent
in Jamaica in districts having a high rainfall, a
relatively impervious soil, and a population of
low economic status living under insanitary conditions.
On the entomological side, an investigation
has been carried out demonstrating that
Hippelates flies can carry yaws infection mechanically
from man to rabbits. Further studies
of the role played by these flies are in progress.
The Rockefeller Foundation has given aid to
the smallpox vaccine laboratory of the National
Institute of Hygiene, Spain. At this laboratory
there are under way important technical studies
in connection with the cultivation of smallpox
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