Dancing With the Dead May be Spreading the Plague in Madagascar

Now officials have identified a centuries-old tradition in Madagascar that could heighten the risk of the outbreak spreading: dancing with the dead.

The local name for the practice is famadihana, but it is also known as “the turning of the bones” or “body turning.” It involves families exhuming the bones of their deceased relatives, rewrapping them with fresh cloth, and dancing with the wrapped corpses before returning the remains to their graves."

“If a person dies of pneumonic plague and is then interred in a tomb that is subsequently opened for a famadihana, the bacteria can still be transmitted and contaminate whoever handles the body,” Willy Randriamarotia, the chief of staff in Madagascar’s health ministry, told AFP.


Plague, an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, is endemic to Madagascar."


"To limit the possibility of the disease spreading through famadihana—which is believed to have existed on the island since at least the 17th century—rules in Madagascar dictate that plague victims must be buried in anonymous mausoleums, not in tombs that can be reopened.


But many are reluctant to abandon what is considered a sacred ritual that honors ancestors and brings good fortune to those who practice it."