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| Madagascans have been urged to stop the Famadihana tradition, a practice that involves digging up dead relatives, wrapping them in fresh cloth and dancing with them before putting them back underground (top and bottom right). Experts fear the ancient ritual has accelerated the spread of plague, which has now infected more than 1,300 people. It has prompted warnings in nine nearby countries - South Africa, Seychelles, La Reunion, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Comoros and Mauritius (left). At least 93 deaths have been recorded, but UN estimates the toll may already be as high as 124. It is caused by the same bacteria that wiped out at least 50 million people in Europe in the 1300s. |
As
Map Reveals The Nine African Countries Officials Fear It Will Target Next
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'It's
one of Madagascar's most widespread rituals,' historian Mahery Andrianahag told
AFP at a festival in Ambohijafy, a village outside the capital Antananarivo
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