A Natural History Detective Story: A Shallow Water Problem

Season 1 Episode 5

Expert Jay Stauffer explains why the problems of Lake Malawi are a shallow water issue.

Bilharzia is a parasite transmitted to people via a water snail found in Lake Malawi. Normally these snails are not found in the shallows where people who lived by the lake bathed and washed but something had changed. Expert scientist, Jay Stauffer found the shallows were infested with the snails and the snails were infested with the Bilharzia parasite. And the ultimate problem was over fishing.

AIR DATE 2/4/15