Huntington disease in black Zimbabwean families living near the Mozambique border.

Huntington disease (HD) was identified in a black (Bantu) family living in the Manicaland region of Zimbabwe near the border with Mozambique. The pedigree included 11 affected individuals in 4 generations. There were 2 other probable HD patients from 2 unrelated black families in the same region. The prevalence rate of HD in this region of Zimbabwe was estimated to be 0.5-1 per 100,000. HD could have been introduced by Portuguese colonists from Mozambique, or by other European visitors, possibly before 1875. DNA studies may ultimately indicate if HD was introduced to this community, or if it arose by mutation. HD was previously reported in Zimbabwean blacks in 1978, when 4 cases of juvenile HD were described in a Bantu family with no apparent history of the disease.