Yaws in Colombia

By the beginning of this century, yaws was a well-known endemic disease in Colombia. Colombian authorities estimated that by early 1930 there were 70,000 active cases of yaws, most of which were located in the Pacific coastal regions. With the advent of penicillin therapy, Colombia organized an anti-yaws campaign, which began in 1950. The campaign relied on the use of penicillin and house-to-house case finding. From 1950 to 1953 more than 111,000 persons with active cases of yaws and 125,000 of their contacts were treated with penicillin. The reported incidence of yaws declined dramatically, and by 1973 only 573 cases were reported in the endemic areas. By 1983 this number had fallen to 31. Because of the persistence of small foci of yaws activity, the anti-yaws campaign has been reorganized to provide a firm basis for the final eradication of the disease in Colombia.