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Trail:

To the Ends of the Earth

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But what was the real cause of Groote Syndrome? For a short period, the missionaries had housed the Aboriginal community at the Emerald River mission site. But the construction of a secret RAF refuelling base in that part of the rainforest during world war two had caused the mission to move a few miles north in 1942 to what was to become the present day Angurugu village. The missionaries had feared that the airmen would mess around with ‘their’ Aboriginal girls.

It is interesting that Angurugu was constructed directly on the pure manganese dioxide bedrock - a phenomena that was unique to this area of the island. The mission set about clearing and cultivating a fifty acre field in order to make the village self sufficient in vegetables. So the new Aboriginal residents found themselves permanently dependent upon a food chain and water supply which was later analysed and found to contain some of the highest levels of manganese in the world. Furthermore, after the mining company set up their open cast mines next to Angurugu in 1962 - where the Aborigines were recruited to work - the surrounding atmospheres of the village were regularly clouded up in a fine black manganese oxide dust. With the trees felled and heaps of crushed manganese ore piling up near the village, the resulting dust storms frequently blew up to storm force, coating up the inside of their open houses with the fine black manganese dioxide dust.

It was obvious that all of the people who were paraded here in wheel chairs or sprawled out on the mattresses in front of the Mission were all suffering from some form of manganese intoxication. They closely resembled the patient photos in a raft of neurological publications which I was carrying in my files. So I slapped these papers down on the mission table, showing the Aboriginal nursing staff the photos of the sick and debilitated manganese mine workers from India, Chile, China Morocco, Guam. Since the Aborigines had unquestionably accepted the wisdom of the so called ‘superior’ medical experts - that this disease was due to their "seed" - they were amazed to see the words of manganese intoxication enshrined beneath these photos - photos which overtly displayed the same mystery condition of the patients they were nursing.

I was also concerned that these Aboriginal victims were suffering from a form of prion disease - better known as CJD - in conjunction with a more generalised motor neurone/ataxic degeneration. But I kept telling myself that such a suggestion might merely be a product of my own wishful thinking, since I had come to Groote with the mission to explore the further associations between manganese and prion diseases. But in all honesty, the victims of Groote syndrome did appear to closely resemble the cases of variant CJD that have blighted young teenagers in the UK - their shrunken, stick insect-like bodies, clawed back hands, bizarre psychiatric symptoms and howling animal cries all combined to remind me of the grotesque vCJD condition. 

In this respect, it is perhaps no surprise to learn that the Groote Eylandt manganese mines - who supply 25% of the total global manganese demand - supplied a highly concentrated manganese oxide to the livestock and human mineral feed supplement market in Europe. I needed to find out if there had been any significant alterations in the source of manganese supplied to the UK cattle feed market from the early 1980s onwards - immediately prior to the emergence of BSE in the Uk. It seems that they had indeed changed from using a manganese sulphate additive to a three fold more concentrated manganese oxide additive.

Considering my findings of high levels of manganese in the ecosystems of all clusters of prion disease analysed to date, plus the fact that David Brown’s trials at Cambridge University have produced the abnormal spongiform prion after addition of manganese to nerve cell cultures, then one is forced to consider the possibility that the use of a high concentration manganese oxide compound in calf milk substitute/mineral licks in UK cattle (and later Europe wide) was responsible for BSE.

I had also seen the specialist’s report of some slide sections of brain taken at the post mortem of Warren’s brother - who had also died of Groote syndrome. Two of the slides had demonstrated the presence of fibrillary features - fibrils being unique to the brain pathology of all who have died of spongiform disease. I had wanted to get hold of the actual slides of these brain sections and view them through the electron microscopy to determine if the fibrils are composed of prions. Despite assurances that these slides could be made available to Warren’s family, they never actually arrive after we had requested .

I met with the Aboriginal elder and Warren Lalara’s surviving sister, Gayangwa, at the table outside , and I began the task of running through my questionaires with them to work out the dietary habits, chemical/ radiation exposures, occupational histories, etc, of every case of Groote syndrome alive on the island today. Unfortunately, I was unable to apply the questionaire to the deceased victims, since Aboriginal spiritual beliefs debar discussion of dead people.

Some common denominators started to emerge from my interviews. All victims had originated from Angurugu and had therefore endured virtual lifetime exposure to excessive levels of manganese. Most victims had also worked in the mines, and this correlation squared up with findings published in the Lancet on May 30th 1987, where two out of three brothers from Angurugu had developed Groote Syndrome and both of the affected brothers had worked, without masks, in the manganese sampling mill of the mine, whereas the disease-free brother had never worked in the mine.

All victims had been exposed to the sonic shock waves radiating from the explosive blasting at the mines.

All victims had been exposed to synthetic pesticides for controlling cockroaches, mosquitoes and flies in their homes. It seems that these pesticides were applied in quite a cavalier manner without adhering to recommended application methods. But having come face to face with some of the giant cockroaches that scanned you with antenna several inches long, I had some sympathy with their pest control policies!

All victims had also consumed large quantities of salt in their diet. They had also all eaten locally grown wild foods such as yams, cycads and pandanus as well as the bats and Wallabies which feed off the cycads. 75% of their total dietary intake was estimated.

From my studies of previous mineral analyses projects carried out on the soils , foods and water in this village, I had gleaned another abnormal feature of the mineral profile in this region which involved very low magnesium and calcium levels. I was therefore particularly interested in this Aboriginal food fad for spreading excessive amounts of salt over their food, particularly as I had personally watched them spreading blankets of white salt granules over every meal; sodium is well known to block the uptake of dietary magnesium across the gut membranes, thereby severely depleting serum magnesium levels.

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Last updated 09-Feb-2007