> Hookworm is endemic in tropical Africa and was brought to North America in the bowels of African slaves where it became a regional affliction below the Mason-Dixon Line. In the 19th century, probably as much as 40% of the region’s population harbored the parasite. So prevalent was hookworm infection and for so long was it a feature of Southern rural life that Americans mistook the physical appearance of hookworm sufferers to be the distinct genetic expression of an unfortunate economic and social class.
> This regional stereotype for the poor white rural population (the “Georgia Cracker”) exhibited, in varying degrees, a prematurely aged, emaciated appearance with striking lankness of frame and slackness of muscle, a misshapen boney scarecrow look with a peculiar “fish eyes” stare, and a sallow complexion. These lethargic and shambling (interpreted by the outsider as lazy and ignorant) poor white farm folk were a hallmark of the Deep South. One Northern visitor caught this when he described the physical appearance of the white inhabitants surrounding Andersonville “as listless and apathetic in look, lank and haggard in form.”
I’m not aware that such a heritable adaptation to endemic pathogens was possible in this case, but then again, I was surprised to learn about the link between sickle cell disease and malaria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_genetic_resistance_to_ma...