Disease Prevention and Control

December 7, 1866. East African colony.

The Great Lakes region (Lake Victoria), Mwanza.

Currently, the Great Lakes region is second only to the Upper Coastal Region in terms of immigrant population within the East African colony. It is located close to Mwanza Bay on the Great Lake (Lake Victoria).

The Great Lakes region boasts abundant water resources, fertile land, and a mild climate. Lake Victoria was formed by water accumulating in a basin and is the source of the Nile River. It lies within the East African Rift Valley, and the East African colony currently controls the southern shore of the Great Lakes region, with other areas in the hands of the natives.

The first primitive fishing industry of the East African colony also began here, utilizing simple dugout canoes to catch fish in Lake Victoria for supplementary meat.

Today's Lake Victoria is not like later times, where the introduction of farmed Nile perch caused ecological diversity destruction.

Therefore, the variety of unique freshwater fish in the Great Lake is considerable, and the unpolluted lake water is safe to consume.

The Great Lakes region is one of the more humid and rainy areas in Africa. The vast expanse of Lake Victoria directly alters the local climate and environment.

In sub-Saharan Africa, humidity is not necessarily a positive term. For example, Nigeria and the Congo in later times were breeding grounds for tropical diseases.

In East Africa, insects are also very troublesome due to the equator passing through the middle of Africa. In most parts of Africa, temperatures generally remain above twenty degrees Celsius, making it suitable for insect breeding year-round.

Malaria, dengue fever, and a host of other infectious diseases are transmitted to humans through mosquitoes.

In later times, East Africa was a disaster zone for malaria and various other diseases. Besides low medical standards, the biggest problem was the rampant mosquito population.

In his previous life, Ernst worked in Tanzania. Although he took good protective measures, the mosquitoes in Africa were too numerous, leading him to contract malaria twice.

This was in the 21st century. Even with mosquito nets and repellent, a modern person like Ernst still fell ill. One can imagine the terror that Africa instilled in Europeans during the current era.

Up to this point, European countries' colonial possessions in Africa have been mostly confined to narrow coastal plains, with a reluctance to venture deep inland.

The Ottoman Empire possesses the largest land area in Africa, primarily in North Africa and Ethiopia. Second are the Portuguese, who established colonies in Angola and Mozambique. Third are the French, mainly occupying small territories in North and West Africa. Finally, there is the Cape Colony under British control. Other countries, Spain and the Netherlands, are negligible.

Therefore, Ernst's East African colony stands out in Africa as the first to penetrate the inland plateau.

The Portuguese colonies are also quite large, but the Portuguese administration is rather crude. They employ a strategy of controlling native tribes through other native tribes, fanning the flames of conflict, and then reaping the benefits.

While the East African colony is no different from any other in its exploitation, Ernst genuinely manages it as his own home. Although the interests of the natives are sacrificed, it facilitates future immigration, indicating a plan for long-term settlement.

Comparing the Portuguese colonies with the East African colony, it would not be an exaggeration to call the former exploitative. It is only because of the current global environment that Portugal can get away with it. After World War II, with the instigation of the US and the Soviet Union, African nations will eventually expel the colonizers.

Of course, this is history from his previous life. It's possible that in this world, the East African colony might annex them. In any case, Ernst will not let Mozambique be. How can he tolerate others sleeping soundly next to his bed?

The Portuguese have a history of such actions. They had designs on the Sultanate of Zanzibar back then, only to be soundly beaten.

Furthermore, the Portuguese also entered the regions of Zimbabwe and Zambia a few years ago, but eventually retreated due to an outbreak of disease among the natives.

Therefore, the greedy Portuguese will sooner or later make a move on the East African colony, and Ernst must remain vigilant. If the East African colony develops smoothly, it will be Portugal's turn to worry about its own colonies.

The year-round temperature in East Africa is above twenty degrees Celsius, leading to the rampant breeding of insects and the prevalence of various viruses.

Currently, diseases are the biggest threat to the survival of immigrants, so addressing sanitation issues in the East African colony has always been a major priority.

This includes strictly managing water sources near residential areas and prohibiting any actions that pollute them.

Areas suitable for mosquito breeding, such as bushes and puddles, are cleared through methods like burning and burying.

For large bodies of water, fish that prey on mosquito larvae are introduced to control their population size.

In the East African colony, diseases like malaria are like a lottery, drawing the unfortunate among the immigrants. Fortunately, quinine has appeared by this time.

Ernst has also specifically introduced Cinchona tree saplings from South America to cultivate in suitable locations in East Africa, along with various traditional Chinese medicines.

Western medicine is still quite mystical at this point and not fully developed. Bloodletting therapy remains the mainstream treatment method for contemporary doctors. In 1833 alone, France imported over forty million leeches.

Fortunately, more and more scholars are beginning to question and oppose the theories of traditional Western medicine. Ernst is living in an era of transition from traditional Western medicine to modern medicine.

The 19th century marked an era of rapid development for Western medicine. Companies like Merck (USA, 1816), Pfizer (USA, 1849), Novartis (Switzerland, 1859), Bayer (Germany, 1863), Glaxo (UK, 1873), SmithKline (UK, 1875), Abbott (USA, 1888), and Roche (Switzerland, 1896) were established one after another, ushering in the era of Western medicine.

Undeniably, countless medical breakthroughs may be occurring in some European and American medical laboratories of the current era, which will completely replace the status of traditional medicine in the coming decades.

However, this process is long and will continue until the 20th century before the edifice of modern medicine is fully established.

Although frontier medicine is advancing by leaps and bounds, the mainstream clinical medicine of the current era is still in the hands of those traditional "old Western doctors."

These "old Western doctors," who have not yet been phased out, still operate with a last-century understanding of diseases, bacteria, and viruses. They lack anesthesia for surgery and concepts of hemostasis and disinfection. Consequently, rather absurd medical accidents often occur.

Ernst dares not gamble with them, so prescriptions that are time-tested and have fewer side effects are more reassuring.

In addition to obtaining some local herbs from the native inhabitants of East Africa, he also seeks out mature and reliable medications from both traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

For example, quinine and Artemisia annua are effective drugs against malaria. Ernst is not a medical student and does not understand how to process these medications.

However, having the medicine is better than having none. If an immigrant in the colony unfortunately contracts malaria.

They can only boil these two and drink the water. It's not that he doesn't want to use extracted medicines, but the cost is too high. The colony is so large, with a considerable population, and expenses are substantial in all aspects. Cultivating medicinal plants, apart from labor costs, incurs almost no additional expenses.

The land is readily available. As long as the environment is suitable, they can grow as much as they want. Ordering medicines from Europe, however, is expensive.

Currently, the most effective means of preventing and controlling infectious diseases in the East African colony is still isolation. Once a problem is detected, the individual is isolated.

If they have good immunity, they might recover; if not, they can only face a painful death.

Ernst has, of course, procured some medicines, but due to transportation issues, most of them are located in the Upper Coastal Region, closest to the port.

The inland areas lag behind in terms of supplies and medication. This requires the inland colonial outposts to exercise greater initiative than the Upper Coastal Region.

Organize more immigrants to conduct sanitation and cleaning activities, centrally manage garbage and excrement, eliminate mosquito habitats, and plant mosquito-repellent plants (East Africa is a producer of pyrethrum)...

To the greatest extent possible, prevent the spread of infectious diseases. In the current era, it can be said that the concept of hygiene among immigrants in the East African colony is world-leading.

They might not have known what hygiene was, but they knew their superiors demanded they not litter, eat indiscriminately, or relieve themselves anywhere.

These were strictly enforced by the colonial administration; otherwise, violators would face severe penalties.

The colonial administration didn't actually have much of a concept of hygiene themselves, but Ernst mandated that the colony follow his instructions. Furthermore, Ernst righteously told the colonial administration that these were conclusions reached by European experts.

Whether the colonial officials believed it or not, after following Ernst's directives, diseases in the East African colony were indeed controlled at a low level.

Compared to the colonies of other countries, the results were significant, even better than some well-developed regions and countries, such as neighboring Mozambique and India in South Asia.