Do mtDNA sequences of Chadic-speaking populations from northern Cameroon suggest their affinities with eastern Africa?
The observation that the Chadic group reveals some affinities to East Africans is extremely surprising giving the present-day geographical distance (around 2000 km) between them. These observations complement recent linguistic and archaeological findings, which consider the Chadic branch in the Afro-Asiatic phylum to be of eastern origin. A continuous, well-defined, geographic sampling strategy of the different genetic polymorphisms of the native populations of sub-Saharan Africa is further needed as the only way of understanding the differentiation of the mtDNA sequences at a micro-regional scale.
An inappropriate referral rate of approximately 52% was encountered that had a significant impact on the waiting time for the proposed test (5.7 months), which is far longer than the 18-week target for treatment in the NHS. We found that a positive test is a strong predictor of a successful outcome of surgical treatment. Such a specialised clinic, therefore, should only receive carefully assessed patients.