The Lancet zombi cases (FI, WD and MM)

Wɔfrɛ no bio: Littlewood and Douyon cases

Tete nsɛm ne anansesɛmAwufoɔ a wɔnantewƐtwetwe ne nan1968 kɔsi 1999

In 1997 a British anthropologist-psychiatrist and a Haitian physician published the only clinical study of people identified in Haiti as zombis. They examined three individuals whose families said they had died and been buried years earlier. All three had psychiatric or neurological conditions, and genetic testing showed that at least two were strangers taken in by bereaved families. The paper remains the main medical evidence that the living zombi is a social diagnosis applied to vulnerable, wandering people.1 2

Fa ko

Wɔdii kan kyerɛw

1997

Published by Roland Littlewood and Chavannes Douyon in The Lancet, 1997

Mfiase

Haitian

Haiti

Deɛ ɛde ba

Ɛfoforɔ

Families attributed each case to sorcery; the investigators diagnosed mental illness, brain damage and learning disability, with mistaken identity in two cases.

Sɛnea wobɛdane bi

Each had died young after a short illness, been buried, and was 'recognised' by relatives years later.

Sɛnea ɛkeka ne ho

Ɛtwetwe ne nan

One was noticed walking through a market in a detached, shambling manner.

Ɛberɛ bɛn na ɛdii kan puee?

Tete wiase Mfinimfini Mmerɛ 1500 kɔsi 1899 1900 kɔsi 1967 1968 kɔsi 1999 2000 kɔsi 2009 2010 kɔsi ɛnnɛ

1997

Published by Roland Littlewood and Chavannes Douyon in The Lancet, 1997

nhwehwɛmu nsɛm

Deɛ fibea no ka

FI, a woman buried beside her house, was identified three years later wandering near her village1 2

WD, dead at 18, was identified by his family at a cockfight eight years after his burial1 2

MM was seen in a town market thirteen years after her death at 181 2

Examination with EEG and CT scans found catatonic schizophrenia, epilepsy with brain damage, and a developmental learning disability1 2

DNA and fingerprint tests showed that two of the three were not the dead relatives at all1 2

The authors did find tetrodotoxin in samples of bokors' powder, but thought misidentification the likelier general explanation1 2

Wobɛtumi atu mmirika aboro no?

Ahoɔhare kuo a efi sɛnea fibea kyerɛkyerɛ mu (ɛtwetwe ne nan), ɛnyɛ susudua.

The Lancet zombi cases (FI, WD and MM) bɛyɛ 3 km/h (1.9 mph)

Wo, nantew bɛyɛ 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

Wo, mmirika brɛoo bɛyɛ 10 km/h (6.2 mph)

Ɔpanin a ne ho yɛ den a ɔtu mmirika denden bɛyɛ 24 km/h (15 mph)

Sakrekafoɔ a ɔyɛ ntɛm bɛyɛ 37 km/h (23 mph)

Fibea

Asɛm biara a ɛwɔ krataafa yi so fi saa fibea yi mu, na yɛde yɛn ankasa nsɛm na akyerɛw. Wohunuu mfomsoɔ bi? Ka kyerɛ yɛn wɔ [email protected].

Ma dɔm no aduane. Dawurubɔ nni hɔ, trackers nni hɔ, onipa baako na ɔtua ho ka. Akyɛdeɛ ma ɛkɔ so wɔ intanɛt so.Ma akyɛdeɛ

Tete nsɛm a efi nsase koro no ara so

Zombi (Haitian)Haitian (Vodou folklore), 1750

Clairvius NarcisseHaitian, 1980

Felicia Felix-MentorHaitian, 1937