Table 1.

Quotes illustrating perceptions of different disease categories

Perceptions	Respondent
I: Is Malaria the same as Jontinooje and Kajeje?	Young woman, farmer; Fula, Sahre Sillere
R: They are different.
I: What makes them different?
R: Malaria is caused by mosquitoes whilst Jontinooje and Kajeje comes at the time when maize starts growing.
I: How does it make people sick, is it when you eat the maize or?
R: We only know that when maize starts growing, that is the time people get sick with Jontinooje.
I: So you don’t know how it gets into the body?
R: No I don’t.
I: Is Malaria the same as Kajeje and Jontinooje or are they different diseases?	Young woman, farmer; Fula, Sahre Sillere
R: They are different.
I: What makes them different?
R: Kajeje is a disease that comes at a particular time. When it’s time comes, people get sick with it. For malaria, it is caused by mosquitoes. When mosquitoes bite you, you will get sick with malaria and your body will become very hot and you will feel cold. You will be sick for a while, then recover.
I: What is the difference (between Malaria, Jontinooje and Kajeje)?	Young man, teacher; Fula Sahre Sillere
R: For Fula Kajeje and Jontinooje, they affect people mainly in the dry season whilst people get sick with malaria during the raining season when we have lots of mosquitoes around. You don’t see mosquitoes in our area here during the dry season but immediately when the rainy season commences, people will start getting sick with malaria. (…) With Jontinooje today you will feel sick and you will recover the next day, get sick again the next and recover the following day. So that is how Jontinooje rotates. For Kajeje you will get sick at night and recover in the morning. (…)
I: What causes Jontinooje and Kajeje?
R: No I don’t really know what causes them but I know it affects people after the rainy season.