Show Freaks and andIn Oddities i In Science N News evs A mysterious epidemic of ot blindness which apparently apparently began in the heart of or Chiapas spreading to Guatemala and parts of Oaxaca has been traced by Mexican government scientists to ta a fly which transmits marIa organisms to those it stings Both whites hites and Indians are attacked and the disease Is 15 spreading POISON OF The fly two species FLY STING and moosen CAUSES AUSES is known as the buffalo or turkey BLINDNESS gnat in the United States The disease dis ease Is characterized b by y tumors generally on the head and an Irritation or of the eyes which prevents the patient from looking nto the light or the sun and in serious cases ends In hi blindness In some of the worst affected areas of Oaxaca nearly all the adult population Is afflicted and nd in the entire region where the occurs it t is 15 estimated that many thousands are affected When an infected bit bites s small maria pass through Its proboscis into the blood of the victim looking for a a. place to develop forming cysts generally general- general ly y In the head Here they become mature laying eggs ggs which hatch immediately The new invade in- in ade vade the entire body and attracted by light enter the eyes yes irritating the cornea and causing lesions I. I a a 4 a aA HA A site where prehistoric Iroquois Indians once U held camp has been explored In the camp refuse the he expedition foun found foune decorated of Iroquois pottery Including some with human portraits on them hem The excavation also unearthed heavy polished or tomahawk heads and a fragment of or a square square- rimmed stone pipe which may have ha figured in council meetings of or the tribe |