Mysterious kidney disease plagues Central America

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

Updated 1138 GMT (1938 HKT) June 11, 2014

The casket is lowered at a funeral for a 49-year-old sugar cane worker in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. Mortality rates from chronic kidney disease in La Isla community are so high that it is now called La Isla de Viudas, or "The Island of Widows."
Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
The casket is lowered at a funeral for a 49-year-old sugar cane worker in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. Mortality rates from chronic kidney disease in La Isla community are so high that it is now called La Isla de Viudas, or "The Island of Widows."
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A man who worked in the sugar cane fields for decades receives dialysis at home with his daughter. He and his 24-year-old son, who worked in the fields for just five years, are both suffering from kidney disease. The names of the victims and their families are being withheld due to the ongoing tension about the prevalence of the disease.
Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
A man who worked in the sugar cane fields for decades receives dialysis at home with his daughter. He and his 24-year-old son, who worked in the fields for just five years, are both suffering from kidney disease. The names of the victims and their families are being withheld due to the ongoing tension about the prevalence of the disease.
Hide Caption
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