# were there STD epidemics in modern Africa before HIV epidemic?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-std-epidemics-in-modern-africa-before-hiv-epidemic/550669>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 18, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-std-epidemics-in-modern-africa-before-hiv-epidemic/550669 "2010-08-18T21:19:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-std-epidemics-in-modern-africa-before-hiv-epidemic/550669/1 "2010-08-18T21:19:33Z")

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assuming that HIV epidemic is really driven by heterosexual transmission, then shouldn’t the early 20th century Africa (already a fairly densely populated place with some modern transport and a culture similar to the current one) have had STD epidemics of a similar scope? What says the historical record?

If in fact there were no similar STD epidemics before HIV, can modern epidemiology explain that while sticking to the heterosexual transmission as the only significant mechanism at work?

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**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-std-epidemics-in-modern-africa-before-hiv-epidemic/550669/2 "2010-08-18T21:26:49Z")

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I found this written in 1946:

> [@](#):
>
> IncidenceTHE incidence of venereal disease in West African natives is very high indeed, and is rapidly on the increase. The exact number of cases in the Colonies is difficult to assess, but in British coloured troops in Nigeria, for example, the gonorrhoea rate alone was more than 60 per cent per annum; while the venereal disease rate in Gold Coast troops was 50 per cent per annum; in Sierra Leone 28 per cent; and in the Gambia as low as 12 per cent.
> 
> SOURCE: [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v157/n3987/abs/157416a0.html](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v157/n3987/abs/157416a0.html)