Haemoglobin O Arab in Sudanese

Abstract

The Northern and Southern Sudanese differ from an anthropological point of view. The first are primarily Arab, but with varying degrees of African mixture, while the second are Nilotic–Hamitic Africans. The latter can be divided into Northern and Southern Nilotes. Among some groups of Southern Nilotes, haemoglobin S is common, but it is absent or low in the Northern Nilotes, for example, Dinka, Shilluk and Nuer. Occasionally, also, haemoglobin Stanleyville II is found which relates these populations to their southern and western neighbours. In the Northern Sudanese, sickling is found at a low, but constant, rate in Khartoum (182 of 9,100 examined, that is, 2 per cent) and at a more variable rate in Western Sudan. It seems that the Northern Sudanese possess haemoglobin O which relates them to their Arab neighbours. Indeed, haemoglobin O Arab was first reported in an Arab family in Israel, but it has recently been found also in Bulgaria.