Puerto Rico Home of Deadly Syndrome

February 1st, 2008 in Medicine & Health / Diseases
Puerto Rico Home of Deadly Syndrome (AP)

Puerto Ricans Rita Nieve, left, and her husband Miguel, who suffer from albinism, squint due to a harsh sunlight as they stand in their doorway near Aguadilla, in western Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007. Puerto Rico has one of the world's highest rates of Type 1 Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, a rare and fatal form of albinism which causes a deadly lung disease.(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

(AP) -- Mayra Nieve is used to being ostracized and called names as an albino in this Caribbean community. What she fears is not being able to breathe.

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