Aeneas, Jeannie Gunns husband, is described as having died from Blackwater Fever or Malarial Dysentry at Elsey Station in the Northern Territory in 1903. She later authored the classic account We of the Never Never. Bernard Deacon
Peter Cameron Scott, a Scottish-American missionary and founder of Africa Inland Mission, died from the disease in December 1896.
It may be that quinine plays a role in triggering the condition, and this drug is no longer commonly used for malaria prophylaxis. Quinine remains important for treatment of malaria. Diagnosis
Treatment
The treatment is antimalarial chemotherapy, intravenous fluid and sometimes supportive care such as intensive care and dialysis. Society and culture
Prominent victims
Prior to his photography career, Henri Cartier-Bresson contracted blackwater fever while hunting in Western Africa. Expecting to die, he sent instructions to his family on his wishes for a funeral. He made a full recovery. Zoologist John Samuel Budgett died from the disease in 1904, after returning from a collecting trip to West Africa, in search of specimens of the fish Polypterus. Missionary and explorer George Grenfell died after a bad attack of blackwater fever at Basoko on 1 July 1906. Jesse Brand, a missionary to the Chat Mountains in India, died of blackwater fever in 1928. Actor Don Adams, best known as Maxwell Smart from the popular sitcom Get Smart and as the title character in Inspector Gadget, contracted blackwater fever after being shot in combat at Guadalcanal during World War II. Adams was evacuated from his United States Marine Corps unit to a hospital in New Zealand where he ultimately made a full recovery. Humanitarian and MMA fighter Justin Wren contracted malaria, which devolved into blackwater fever, while drilling water-wells for Congo Pygmies in 2013. The affliction nearly claimed Wrens life. He was misdiagnosed four times and required airlift to Uganda, where he narrowly recovered from severe symptoms.