Mysterious kidney disease plagues Central America
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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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.
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Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
A 29-year-old sugar cane worker who suffers from kidney disease stands in the fields in Chichigalpa.
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Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
Security guards confront local workers and a member of La Isla Foundation for trespassing in the fields. La Isla is a nongovernmental organization addressing the increased incidence of kidney disease in the area.
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Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
Loved ones grieve the death of a 36-year-old man who worked in the fields for 12 years.
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Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
People gather for the funerals of two former sugarcane workers. From 2002 to 2012, 75% of deaths for men ages 35 to 55 in Chichigalpa have been attributed to chronic kidney disease, according to La Isla Foundation.
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Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
A widow stands in the doorway of her home. She lost her husband and two brothers to kidney disease.
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Photos: 'The Island of Widows'
A father and son who are both sick with kidney disease wade in the water at the beach in Puerto Corinto, a coastal town near Chichigalpa.
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