Page 55 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

Empir E s of m E di E v al w E st africa

The TyranT Mari jaTa ii
Mansa Sulayman died in 1360 after ruling for 24 years. His son Kanba
took over the throne, but that same year, civil war broke out. Sulayman’s
sons and the sons of his brother Mansa Musa were fighting over who
would be king.
Kanba died after only nine months in power. He was followed by
Mari Jata II. He was the grandson of Mansa Musa and the son of Mansa
Magha, who had died after only four years in power.
Mansa Magha had ruled the country for his father, Mansa Musa,
while he was on pilgrimage. Then, when Mansa Musa died, Magha took
over the power. But Mansa Musa’s brother Sulayman was the next old-

CONNECTIONS
Sleeping Sickness

sleeping sickness is spread by tsetse flies, are at risk from the bite of the tsetse fly.
which live only in africa. they are slightly Each year an average of 25,000 new cases
larger than horseflies and breed along riv- are identified, according to the world Health
ers and streams. the flies live on blood, and organization (wHo). Because this is a dis-
can drink twice their weight in blood each ease that strikes in rural areas, many suffer-
time they feed. this poses a serious health ers are undiagnosed and untreated. of the
risk to both animals and humans, because 36 countries in which sleeping sickness is a
as they feed, the flies also transmit an infec- problem, 22 are actively involved in a wHo
tion of the central nervous system called program to bring the disease under control.
trypanosomiasis. the most effective approach includes medi-
tssetse flies start by biting an animal or per- cal surveillance of the population that is at
t t
son who is infected with a tiny parasite called risk so treatment can begin early, control of
a trypanosome. the parasite lives inside the the tsetse flies, and carefully monitored drug
fly’s stomach for several days. then it trav- therapy.
els to the fly’s salivary glands, after which By 2005, wHo reported that the number
any person or animal who is bitten becomes of new cases throughout the continent had
infected. the disease is commonly known as fallen. Between 1998 and 2004, the num-
sleeping sickness because, if left untreated, ber of cases reported for both animals and
the victim falls into a coma and then dies. humans fell from 37,991 to 17,616. the esti-
it is estimated that today more than 66 mated number of cases is currently between
million people living in rural areas of africa 50,000 and 70,000.

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