ABSTRACT
The conventional dogma has it that almost any sort of nutritional intervention will have a favorable effect on resistance to disease, particularly infectious disease. Many years ago David Morley drew attention to undernutrition and its impact on measles. It was accepted by everybody that this was a very important source of susceptibility. Recently Peter Arby in Copenhagen showed very conclusively that there was no real relationship between the state of nutrition and the mortality or morbidity of measles. Instead it was shown to be due to overcrowding. In an overcrowded housing situation it spreads to other children. The mortality is more closely related to overcrowding than to the level of infection. Iron deficiency is extremely common in the world. The Somalian nomads presented a unique opportunity to look at the effects of iron deficiency. Camel milk is generally deficient in iron. This whole group of people living along the border of Ethiopia was found to be iron deficient.
