Oscar, a sugar cane worker from El Salvador, exemplifies the struggle against a mysterious kidney disease epidemic affecting agricultural workers. Known as CKDu, this condition has a high prevalence in Bajo Lempa, where 25% of men are affected and 17% suffer from kidney failure. Despite initially being recognized in this region, more than six additional hotspots have emerged globally. Occupational-health experts warn of a rising death toll, with tens of thousands of fatalities attributed to this alarming health crisis that lacks clear risk factors or comprehensive data.
Although the epidemic of this perplexing kidney disease was first recognized in this region, more than half a dozen hotspots have since appeared elsewhere in Central America and around the world.
Many are agricultural workers or labourers without other known risk factors for kidney disease. As many as one in four adult men in Bajo Lempa have kidney disease.
On a typical morning, the 33-year-old begins work long before sunrise in a futile attempt to escape the suffocating heat and humidity.
Tens of thousands of people have probably died from the disease, and the number continues to grow.
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