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Histoplasmin skin-test was applied to 1014 patients in two different parts of Somalia: in Mogadishu, an arid area, and in Jilib, a southern village on the banks of the Juba river. Among these patients only three gave areas of induration greater than 5 mm in diameter; all reactors were from Jilib. Results of a serological survey (latex-agglutination test) of histoplasmosis antibodies among 203 Somalian patients from three villages in river valleys are compared with the results of 171 inhabitants of the town of Mogadishu. Indirect agglutination antibody titers greater than or equal to 20 were found in 21.6% of the Mogadishu population as compared to 52.2% found in the river villages. In 96.2% of our cases in which the two tests were contemporarily used, the skin-test was completely negative despite high titres of positivity in the serological test. The results indicate the existence of founts of histoplasmosis infection in Somalia, particularly in humid areas bordering the rivers rather than in the surrounding arid semi-desert area characteristic of most of the country.

Of 356 samples of human sera collected from native patients in two distinct zones of Somalia, 53% were positive (greater than or equal to 1:8) to the dye-test for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies. A significantly lower incidence (P less than 0.01) of infection was found in patients living in the arid Mogadishu area, compared to that in patients from villages on the river borders, situated in humid soil zones. Furthermore, in 4.2% of the river area cases the titres were over 300 I.U., indicating that acute T. gondii infection exists among the Somalian population. These differences were regarded as being due to climatic and geographical conditions rather than to diet or socio-economic conditions.