Distribution of the S and C haemoglobin variants in two nigerian communities

Abstract

Surveys by sickling tests and paper electrophoresis have been carried out on two widely divergent communities of Southern Nigeria, the Yoruba and the Igalla. Haemoglobin S is fairly uniformly distributed, being present in 25 per cent. of the Yoruba and 18 per cent. of the Igalla. But whereas haemoglobin C was found in 7 per cent. of the Yoruba, none was found among the Igalla. Possible ethnological reasons for this difference are discussed.