Haiti elephantasis

LEOGANE, HAITI - MAY 25: Three female patients of Dr. Luccene Desir, director of the Center of Research for Filariasis in Haiti (elephantiasis) display their legs affected by elephantiasis at a hospital in Leogane, south of Pt-au-Prince, Haiti. Left to right are Amise Placide, Poline Guerrier, and Mimose Louissant. The doctor's patients come from the locale of Leogane where research has shown that 40% of the population suffers from this maladie caused by a virus from mosquitos. The virus can live in the body for many years before developing into a permanent swelling, usually in the legs of women, and elsewhere in men. Some of the women recognized that the malady came from mosquitos but others thought they came from a curse or spell put on them. (Photo by Maggie Steber for The Washington Post via Getty Images)