JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

Jigger Fleas Effect On Ugandan Socioeconomics

and its Influences on Poverty Rates
Ashley K. Armstrong
Global Studies and World Languages Academy

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

Introduction
Currently in Uganda, there exists an epidemic that is harming many civilians health and
future success. Known as jiggers, parasitic fleas called chigoe fleas, predominantly located in
Southern African countries, burrow into the skin of the host and deteriorates the exterior of the
skin. Not only does this cause severe health issues among many children and adults, lack of
knowledge about how the disease is transmitted affects how the people react to others who have
contracted the jiggers. Efforts have been made to create an increase in relief and awareness of the
issue. However, increased contributions by the general public are needed for the problem to
lessen because of the low quality of life for many Ugandan families with the disease. Lack of
awareness of the issue of jiggers in Uganda in other countries is due to its effect on only a small
area in the country. Although this is only affecting small regions of Uganda, its surrounding areas
could also become victims of jiggers physically, economically, and socially. Only one
organization has taken action into creating relief for the victims of the jiggers. Without taking
further action, the issue of jiggers will cause a negative effect on the future economic and social
development within the country of Uganda due to the lack of necessities need to prevent the
disease from spreading among its victims, most being children.

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

Limitations of Study
Since I will not be able to go to Uganda myself, I will not be able to see the full effects of
the jiggers disease. One of the disadvantages of not being able to go to the country is, I will not
be able to see the emotional impacts it has on families to use in my research when supporting my
thesis that the disease is considered to be socially devastating. Also, I will only be able to
describe the environment of the affected area in Uganda through descriptions written by others
through articles, which may be inaccurate if they have also not traveled to Uganda themselves to
support their work. Since I have not experienced the disease myself, I will not be able to write
out experiences of having the jiggers disease from the victims point of view and only from
articles written by those who have only studied the disease rather than actually experiencing it
themselves. When doing my research, I will be obtaining a majority of my information from the
organization I will be working with called SoleHope. However, since this is the only
organization working towards relief of the jiggers disease in Uganda, there may be some bias
concerning the issue. I will not be able to get opinions from different perspectives because of the
lack to awareness for the disease. Lastly, there is limited contact between my outside mentor and
I, as well as the organization I will be working with. Although my outside mentor works with
along with SoleHope, she is also a full time student, with also a part time job. I will not be able
to have immediate contact with her, and responses will be delayed due to our conflicting
schedules. Also, SoleHope is located in Uganda, and their US location is located in North
Carolina. I will only be able to have contact with them through e-mail, and responses by this
method can also be delayed.

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

Methodology
For my research, I will be collecting my data mainly through online research. Information
about the Jiggers disease will be taken from different types of online sources including those that
are opinionated, scientific, and informative. This way, the readers of my paper will have a clear
idea of what the issue is about from many points of views, also reducing bias. Books will also be
used in my research. I would like to use information from both new and old editions of books to
show how the issue has gotten worse the past decade, as well as changes in relief efforts over
time. In addition, I would like to conduct a survey to see how many people are aware of the topic
I will be using for my Senior Project, as the issue of chigoe fleas in Uganda is unheard of in
many first world countries. The survey can support my argument that there needs to be more
public awareness, as well as relief for the disease before it leads to economic and social
instability in Uganda, potentially affecting surrounding African countries. However, the survey
may be ineffective if the people participating are unable to provide any knowledge of the disease
because of the lack of attention it has by the media. Lastly, I will be getting information from the
organization I will be working with called SoleHope. I will be e-mailing the organization
frequently to obtain some more background information about the disease, as well as getting
assistance for the event I will be hosting here in Virginia Beach. However, since e-mail can be a
slow process and can take some time to get in contact with the receiver of the message, I will be
working with a volunteer from SoleHope, named Arielle Bacon, who is currently living in
Virginia Beach. Arielle had the opportunity to travel to Uganda herself and work as a
photographer in the affected area. She has provided me with pictures to use for my project, and
will be able to give some information based on her experiences in Uganda through interview
questions.

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

After obtaining my data from a survey that I have created, first, I focused on the
demographics of the test takers. A majority of the people who had taken my survey were of the
age of 0-17, most likely because I had distributed the surveys throughout my school consisting of
mostly 14-17 year old students. In addition, I also asked for their gender, for male and females
may sometimes have opposing views and beliefs about an issue. I also wanted to know how
many of the test takers were currently enrolled in the Global Studies and World Languages
Academy because students who are in the program may have more knowledge of the questions I
have asked in the survey. After asking questions pertaining to demographics, I began to ask
questions in regards to the actual issue of Jiggers. As a warm up, I first asked them to name
epidemic in relation to Africa. A majority of the responders have answered with the issue of
Ebola and HIV/AIDS, and some had answered with malaria. Then, I asked if they knew where
Uganda was located and what issue was best associated with the country. Although many said
that disease was the biggest issue, I have a received a variety of answers as to where Uganda is
located on a map of Africa, which makes me question if people just associate all of Africa with
disease due to the current epidemic of Ebola. Since the socioeconomics of Uganda is important
when analyzing why the issue of Jiggers is crucial, I asked if they knew what the status of it was,
and almost everyone choose the answer choice below average. To see the surveyors true
knowledge of Jiggers, I asked if they knew what it was. Although many have answered no, a
few knew what the issue was and were able to give an explanation, which was very surprising.
For one of the questions, I have included a picture of the Jigger flea to see if the survey takers
knew what it could do. I provided the answer choices commensalism, mutualism, and
parasitism, and all but three chose parasitism. Lastly, because my senior project event is
partly associated with contributions by the public for relief of the issue of Jiggers in Uganda, I

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

asked if they are willing to donate or contribute to help with answer choices yes, no, and Im
not sure. There were about an equal amount of responses for all three choices.

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

Literature Review
I have used articles that mention the economic and social disadvantages of jigger fleas in
Uganda to support my thesis on how this is a major issue. One article comes from the IPS, Inter
Press Service, website, an international news agency. To summarize, the article first points out
that since little is being done to stop the jiggers from spreading in rural areas, it is preventing
students who are affected from going to school, negatively affecting education growth levels in
Uganda. Another article in relation comes from AllAfrica, which tells a story of a boy who had to
drop out of school due to infection by the jiggers, and it provides some more information of what
students with jiggers experience throughout the school day, as well as how his family has been
affected. Next, I have included an article from UGO News, a Ugandan news source, not only to
break the bias of only using American or international news sources, but also to see the issue
through a Ugandan point of view. The article states that the transmission of jiggers is mainly
caused by poor hygiene, which can be related to other articles which state that it is mostly caused
by poverty, for poor hygiene is due to the lack of resources one is able to get. In relation, another
article featured on New Vision, Ugandas leading daily news source, states that both poverty and
hygiene are causing the jiggers outbreak. Some people believe that witchcraft is the cause of
jigger infections among families. An article by CNN says that jiggers are putting families deeper
into poverty, which is causing difficulty for families to seek medical care in their community.
Some may not even know that medical help is provided due to the lack of communication
devices they possess, such as cell phones and TVs for media, to notify them about relief.
I have also retrieved articles which focus on the scientific elements of the jigger fleas
One of the articles comes from the CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, website. It
gives scientific information on the biology of jigger fleas, as well as their prominent habitats and

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

how the diseases are transferred when the flea burrows into the victims skin. It also provides
information for treatment options, which currently, only includes physical extraction of the fleas
out of its host, for no available drugs have been able to cure its affects on the skin. I have used an
article from the US National Library of Medicine from the National Institutes of Health, which
discusses how jiggers can burrow into various areas of the body, and not just the bottom of feet.
Also, it states that it is the lesions caused by the burrowing of the fleas that causes infection,
allowing bacteria to enter the inner epidermis. Some infections are able to causes gangrene and
tetanus, and blood poisoning. In the article from the Consultancy Africa Intelligence, it gives
scientific and statistical information of the disease, tungiasis, and the origin of how this disease
came to be plus how people were first infected. It also gives information on the areas affected
around the world, including some surrounding countries of Uganda. An article from the
DailyMail, a British news source, goes into detail about the extraction process of the fleas from
its host. The only way of preventing further infection by the fleas when burrowed inside the skin
is to physically cut the skin open, extract the fleas, and soak the wound in alcohol or disinfectant.
To have a conflicting view of my thesis, I have included some articles, which go against
my focuses of jiggers being a major issue. To start off, I have used an article from the Daily
Monitor, and the author believes that the main problem is not caused by jiggers, but a lack of
cement floors to cover the ground.
I have used articles from the SoleHope website to get information about the issue of
jiggers from the organization I will be directly working with. The website includes general
information about jiggers, which will be used as a base for the other articles that will be used to
go further in depth in the topic. Also, I have used an article from DigiDrift about a man who had
traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa and researched about the jigger fleas himself after encountering

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

one during his trip. Although this article is more commentary more than informative, it shows a
first person view of jiggers by a foreigner of Africa.

Body

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Jigger fleas, also known as chigoe fleas or their scientific name, Tunga penetrans, are
parasitic fleas found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including Mexico, South
America, the West Indies and Africa. They are believed to have been brought to Uganda and
other east African countries by migrants from India who constructed the railway from Mombasa,
the Kenyan seaport, to Kampala in the 19th century. Others say the parasites came to Africa
aboard a British ship that sailed from Brazil (Olukya, 2010). The fleas normally occur in sandy
climates, including beaches, stables and farms (Webb, 2010), and the eggs released by the female
can multiply into the 100s throughout the surrounding environment (MailOnline, 2014).
Although the parasite starts out quite small, about 1mm in length, as it continues to feed, its
stomach fills with eggs and its size increases to approximately 5-10 mm in width or the size of a
small pea. In humans, the flea usually embeds itself under the toe or fingernails (SoleHope 1). If
left in the skin, tungiasis infection or other severe secondary complications can occur. The
complications can range from loss of nails, toe deformities and an inability to walk, or where
infection is on fingers, difficulty in gripping, lymphadenopathy, gangrene, hepatitis (MailOnline,
2014), the swelling of lymph nodes, and in extreme cases, death (Wachira, 2012). The process of
the jiggers infection starts off with when eggs hatch into larvae after three to four days of being
released by a female jigger, and the larvae feed on organic debris in the environment. The larvae
have two stages before forming pupae, which is the larvae that is surrounded by cocoons that are
covered with debris from the environment, including sand and pebbles. The larval and pupal
stages take about three to four weeks to complete. Afterwards, adults hatch from the pupae and
seek out a host for blood meals (Tungiasis, 2013). Mated females are able to burrow into the skin
of the host by clawing into the epidermis, where they cause a nodular swelling (Webb 1). The
opening of the epidermis allows the jigger flea to breathe and defecate whilst feeding on blood

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vessels in the cetaceous and subcutaneous dermal layer (Wachira, 2012). After burrowing into its
host, the female fleas feed on the host, and their abdomens extend up to about 1 cm. The females
shed about 100 eggs over a two-week period inside the hosts epidermis, after which they die and
are sloughed by the host's skin (Webb 1).
The extraction process is a tedious and painful process. Doctors much extract each flea
one by one out of the area affected in the epidermis. This is done by cutting through the skin and
pulling out the jigger from the host with a scalpel. Not only do the pea-sized fleas have to be
removed, but many tiny eggs laid by the female must also be cleansed out of the skin. Since the
hundreds of eggs can be distributed to different areas of the feet or hands, it is difficult for
doctors to extract all of them, for they are hard to find due to their size (MailOnline 2014). The
pain associated with the extraction process creates fear for those needing immediate medical
help, for stories are told to them about the discomfort after the fleas have been removed prevent
them from visiting a local hospital (Carrington, 2014).
Jiggers are responsible for killing 20 Ugandans and injuring more than 20,000 in just two
months. James Kakooza, Uganda's minister of state for primary health care, has stated that
jiggers can easily kill young children by sucking their blood and can cause early deaths in adults
who have other diseases. Most of those infected, especially the elderly, cannot walk or work.
They are a concern in Sub-Saharan Africa due to the high poverty levels, as well as poor
hygienic conditions, an environment where jiggers thrive the most (Olukya 1). Those who do not
own shoes and share shelter with animals that carry the fleas are also vulnerable. Common
factors that trigger effects of tungiasis include poor housing conditions, lack of water, poor
hygiene and wearing open shoes. While shoes serve well in reducing invasion of the jigger fleas,
the problem lies in affordability. Tungiasis prevails in poor populations, where shoes may not be

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seen as a priority (Wachira, 2012). Also, the most affected households are those with cracked
floors and walls, which create an entrance for the fleas into the home. Past evidences have shown
that the most affected areas are communities with poor resources and lack of essential services
such as electricity, water and health services, combined with the risk factor of the community
keeping domesticated animals in close proximity. The impact of the disease is felt heavily among
poverty stricken rural agricultural communities and is believed to be stopping progress and
development of Ugandan society. Farmers and breadwinners in the communities have difficulty
working due to morbidity including difficulty in walking, persistent itching and insomnia, and
most families who live in utter poverty rely on farming for their livelihood. Most are unable to
afford the health care in their community to extract the jiggers or treat the infections (Namirimu,
2010). Among the population of affect individuals are children who are unable to walk to school,
write properly, or participate in learning activities the same as their unaffected peers (Wachira,
2012). Some education experts believe the flea epidemic is preventing the country from
achieving Millennium Development Goal 2 of achieving universal primary education in Uganda
by 2015. According the National Department of Education, only 20 percent of pupils who enroll
for primary education end up completing Grade 7, the highest level in Ugandas primary
education and acknowledges that the fleas are a key contributor to the problem of education in
rural areas (Michael, 2010). This could potentially raise poverty levels higher than they are today
in the areas affected by jiggers, which could delay prevention of the epidemic by civilians.
In addition, the students are discouraged from attending school or leaving their homes in
general because they become a source of ridicule and scorn among their peers. Bramwel
Wamukoya, a 13 year old who attended Lureko primary school in the Mumias district of Uganda,
was told by his class teacher not to report to school due to the fear that he would infect the whole

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class with jiggers (Makokha, 2014). Not only are children being socially isolated, adults, as well
as whole families, are also victims. A mother of six, whose whole family is jigger infested,
preferred to stay home to hide rather than seek medical attention. She believed that seeking
medical assistance would cause humiliation for her whole family. For her, the stigma associated
with jigger infestation is similar to that of HIV & AIDS (Wachira, 2012). The victims all seem to
be oblivious to the pain caused by the tungiasis, and are more concerned and afraid of the social
stigma and discrimination associated with the disease (Michael, 2010).
Jiggers have been an ongoing issue in Sub-Saharan Africa due to the lack of government
involvement in relief efforts, as well as unawareness by many of the international public.
Although Busoga leaders say that much as government offered 400 million shillings,
approximately 145 thousand US dollars, to stop further spread the jiggers (Lule, 2013), the
Ugandan government is failing to fund for housing and necessities that prevent jiggers from
entering homes, a major one being cement floors. Cement floors work better for jigger blockage,
unlike most impoverished community homes that only have bare ground (Onyango-Obbo, 2014).
For example, Jason Webb (2010) , a tourist who traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa, was unaware of
what jiggers were until he had experienced having one on the sole of his foot during his trip.
After returning home and doing research, he then found out that jiggers were a major issue in the
area he had visited in Africa and were causing many problems among villages experiencing high
poverty levels. In addition to Webbs experience, the survey I conducted included a question
which asked, Do you know what Jiggers are?. As a result, over 70% of the test takers were
unaware of what jiggers are. This goes to show that the problematic issue of jiggers is unknown
to many of the public due to the lack of media attention or because it only affects a portion of a
region in Africa and is does not prevail in their own country.

JIGGER FLEAS EFFECT ON UGANDAN SOCIOECONOMICS

Conclusion

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Jiggers will continue to cause an issue for the development of the Ugandan
socioeconomics if the government or the public does not make increased efforts for relief and
prevention both nationally and internationally. Although the biology of jiggers and its parasitic
functions is concerning for the victims, high poverty levels, as well as poor hygiene also account
for the increase in jigger infestations in households over the past few years. Children living in
these conditions are unable to obtain a decent education not only because the infection caused by
jiggers makes it difficult to concentrate in school, but also because of ridicule by their peers and
the fear of spreading the disease to other students. This will prevent economic success in the
future for the third world country and cause poverty levels to rise even higher than it is today. In
addition, the lack of awareness makes it difficult to collect funds needed for publicity and relief
efforts for jiggers. Unless action is not taken now, Uganda will not be able to progress in
development, all because of a pea-sized insect.

Works Cited

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Ashford, R. W., & Crewe, W. (2003). Tunga Penetrans. In The parasites of homo sapiens: An
annotated checklist of the protozoa, helminths, and arthropods for which we are home
(pp. 106-142). London: Taylor & Francis.
This section of the book gives information of the chigoe flea, also known by their
scientific name, tunga penetrans. Known as jigger fleas by the organization SoleHope,
this insect is responsible for infecting the skin of its host and causing diseases that
could lead to infection and ultimately death. This source is reliable because it is factual
and does not contain any bias.
Carrington, D. (2014, October 21). The parasite keeping millions in poverty. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/21/world/africa/the-parasite-keeping-millions-inpoverty/
This article gives some general information about chigoe fleas, as well as stories told
by those who were affected in Uganda. This article is useful because it gives the
emotional aspect of the jiggers from a point of view from those who were affected.
Lule, C. (2013, September 21). Jiggers Are a Result of Poor Hygiene in Busoga Region.
Retrieved from http://news.ugo.co.ug/jiggers-are-a-result-of-poor-hygiene-in-busogaregion/
This article talks about the government involvement of jiggers relief efforts, as well as
stating the claim that tungiasis is caused by poor hygiene. This article is useful because
it supports my argument that more efforts need to be enforced to stop the jigger fleas
from affecting Uganda's social and economic decline.
MailOnline, M. D. (2014, November 11). The tragedy of people infested with 'jigger' fleas:
Parasites burrow so deep that victims must have them cut out of their skin with a

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SCALPEL. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2825635/Thetragedy-people-infested-jigger-fleas-Parasites-burrow-deep-victims-cut-skinSCALPEL.html

Makokha, S. (2014, July 3). Kenya: Boy Drops Out of School Due to Jigger Infestation.
Retrieved from http://allafrica.com/stories/201407140099.html
This article describes the life of a student who had to drop out of school due to jiggers
and concerns by the Community Center for Education Research and Creative Arts that
funds are being solicited from donors by NGOs with little progress in relief. This
article is useful because it proves my argument that jiggers are affecting education and
drop out rates in Uganda, eventually having devastating affects on the Ugandan
economy.
Michael, W. (2010, October 21). INTER PRESS SERVICE. Retrieved from
http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/10/uganda-sand-fleas-neglected-threat-to-primaryeducation/
This article gives an overview of the jiggers outbreak from a child's point of view. It
talks about how many children in Uganda are unable to attend school due to obtaining
the disease. Also, it mentions how development of the country as a whole could be
held back in the future if action is not taken to lessen the virus. This source is reliable
because it is from an international news agency.
Namirimu, E. (2010, October 18). Jiggers: A case of poverty, hygiene or both? Retrieved from
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/34/735346
This article gives information on how victims with poor hygiene and those who live in

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poverty are the most vulnerable to jiggers. This article is useful in giving for stating
reasons as to why economic and social aspects of Uganda will continue to decrease.
Olukya, G. (2010, October 22). Horror rotting disease hits Uganda. Retrieved from
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39796049/ns/health-infectious_diseases/t/horror-rottingdisease-hits-uganda/#.VCTz7ildWuo
This article provides information from 2010 about how the jiggers outbreak began. It
provides interviews from local health care official predicting that the disease should
lessen in a few years. This source is reliable because it is rom an official, well known
news source, NBC and it does not shoe bias.
Onyango-Obbo, C. (2014, January 29). Uganda does not have a jigger crisis or whatever; it has a
cement problem. Retrieved from
http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/OpEdColumnists/CharlesOnyangoObbo/Ugandadoes-not-have-a-jigger-crisis/-/878504/2163864/-/uvldi4z/-/index.html
This article gives an author's opinion of what is the true problem of fighting jiggers
after analyzing jigger infestations in other countries. He concludes that not having
concrete floors is the main reason why villagers are getting jiggers burrowed into their
feet in their homes. This article is useful because it gives evidence that it is not just
jiggers itself that are causing distress among the villages.
Our Story. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.solehope.org/our-story/
This page of the SoleHope website gives information about how the organization had
started and the founders' inspiration for their action. This source is reliable because the
story comes directly from the organization which I will be working with.

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Sole Hope. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.solehope.org/

This website is of an NGO called "Sole Hope". It provides information on the jiggers
virus, as well as projects related to the their goals to preventing further spread of the
disease. This source is reliable because the information is from the organization's
official website, and the background story comes directly from the organization's
editor.
Tungiasis. (2013, November 29). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/tungiasis/
This article has information about how the cligoe fleas infect its host and cause the
disease in humans, as well as treatment options. It also gives diagrams to show how
the infection is transferred. This source is reliable because it comes directly from the
CDC website.
Wachira, A. (2012, May 02). Infestation of the jigger flea in resource-poor communities in
Africa. Retrieved from http://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=1012:infestation-of-the-jigger-flea-inresource-poor-communities-in-africa-&catid=61:hiv-aids-discussionpapers&Itemid=268
This article gives much information on many aspect of jiggers, such as how the
tungiasis disease is transmitted, the biology of jiggers, and prevention. It also shows
statistics of other countries that are affected. This is useful when giving scientific and
statistical information to support my claim.
Webb, J. (2010, October 30). Jiggers (Chigoe Flea) The Hidden African Killer. Retrieved from
http://www.digidrift.com/jiggers-chigoe-flea-the-hidden-african-killer/
This article is written by a man who had traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa himself and

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experienced having a jigger inside his foot himself. After his trip and doing research
about the fleas, he finds out that jiggers are a huge concern in the area he had visited
and he was unaware of it until he had one on him. This article is useful when
supporting my claim that this is not well known to foreigners outside of Africa.
What Are Jiggers? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.solehope.org/jiggers/
This page found on the Sole Hope official website gives some information about
jiggers and the effects it has on the Ugandan people. It also shows diagrams of where
the insects burrow onto the people that gives them the disease. This source is reliable
because the information is from the organization's official website, and the information
comes difrectly from the people working with the organization in Uganda and its US
headquarters.