Cuba Faced Mysterious Blindness Epidemic

In the early 1990s, a mysterious nerve disorder impaired the vision of about 50,000 Cubans as the country suffered severe food shortages. American ophthalmologist Dr. Alfredo Sadun traveled to Cuba in May 1993 and concluded that poor nutrition and vitamin deficiencies had left people's optic nerves vulnerable. After one patient admitted drinking homemade alcohol, Sadun also suspected that methanol contamination contributed to the illness. Cuba distributed vitamin supplements nationwide, and the epidemic rapidly subsided.

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