re: Meanwhile, in Africa, dancing with corpses until they decompose has been discouraged

Not saying I think they should be dancing with bodies but their current problem has nothing to do with this practice (EDIT: unless they're digging up plague victims that have only been dead for a week or less)

They're experiencing some pneumonic plague which can be spread from person to person (if they're alive).

Yersenia (the bacteria that causes plague) is endemic in that country and is usually spread by a rodent flea called Xenopsylla