English transcription: Insect-Borne Diseases. The people who live in the district around Sabzevar, about 400 miles from Teheran in Iran, have plenty of experiences of diseases that are carried by insects. Many of them suffer repeatedly from malaria, carried by anopheles mosquitoes. Trachoma, a painful eye disease, is all too common, especially among children, and it is carried, at least to some extent, by flies. Then, there are relapsing fever carried by ticks, and leishmaniasis, transmitted by sandflies. There is also typhus, carried by the body louse. Since 1954, a WHO-team, at the request of the Iran government, have been carrying out a project in the area against insect-borne diseases. Donkeys loaded with water urns are the only traffic the team encounters on the lonely roads through the Persian highlands.
Description: A vast, mountainous landscape, bereft of any vegetation. Three white donkeys, trudging up a dirt road, each laden down wth dozens of earthen water jugs contained in netting made of knotted rope. A man leading them, wearing a white turban and loose dark garment, carrying a long stick.
Location: Sabzevar, District of.