Blood Money: Hookworm Economics in the Postbellum South

There are two types of hookworm, Ancylostoma duodenale, known as the Old World hookworm, and Necator americanus, the New World hookworm. While both species may be found in Africa, Asia and the Americas, N. americanus is predominantly located in the Americas and Australia, while only A. duodenale is found in the Middle East, North Africa and southern Europe (a). The origin of the New World species in North America has been attributed to the Atlantic slave trade beginning in the 17th century, where infected African slaves brought the parasite to the Americas (b). The hookworm quickly adapted to the loamy soil, humid climate and rainfall patterns of the Southeast that mimicked that of the African continent (d). The socioeconomic conditions of the South and the treatment of slaves also facilitated the spread of the hookworm due to an absence of sanitary outhouses, widespread use of feces as fertilizer in fields (known as night-soil), and lack of footwear for children.