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Ancient Funerary Ritual in Madagascar May Be Deadly for Those Who Participate

Native Madagascans asked to stop performing traditional “turning of the bones” ceremony due to concerns over a deadly bacteria.

Ancient Funerary Ritual in Madagascar May Be Deadly for Those Who Participate
People carry a body wrapped in a sheet as they take part in a funerary tradition called the Famadihana in the village of Ambohijafy, a few kilometres from Antananarivo, on September 23, 2017. During the Famadihana, which can be translated as "turning of the bones", several crypts are opened and people take the bodies of their ancestors from the family crypts and rewrap them in fresh cloth, then dance with the corpses in their arms at the pace of traditional Malagasy band's music. The Famadihana is a pillar in the Malagasy ancestor's worship and is celebrated each three, five or seven years. / AFP PHOTO / RIJASOLO (Photo credit should read RIJASOLO/AFP/Getty Images)

Experts worry a recent outbreak of the plague on the island of Madagascar is being spread by a sacred, ancient funerary ritual practiced by a native ethnic group.

Famadihana (pronounced fa-ma-dee-an), also known as “turning of the bones,” is a tradition practiced by many Malagasy people that dates back to the 17th century. In short, it requires exhuming the deceased bodies of loved ones, wrapping them in a fresh shroud, and dancing with the corpses through the streets to singing and music before reburying them.

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