Rare genetic disease ravages village in Brazil (graphic images)

Eraldo Peres/AP

Deides Freire de Andrade, right, and Djalma Antonio Jardim, behind him, both who have a rare inherited skin disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum, or "XP," wait for medical attention at the Hospital Geral de Goias in Goiania, Brazil, April 9, 2014.

More than 20 people in the Araras community of about 800 have XP. That’s an incidence rate of about one in 40 people, far higher than the one in 1 million people in the United States who have it.

Goiania, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Dr. Sulamita Chaibub takes photos of Djalma Antonio Jardim, 38, at the Hospital Geral de Goias, in Goiania, Goias state, Brazil, April 9, 2014.

For years, nobody could tell Jardim or the others what was afflicting them. "The doctors I went to said I had a blood disorder. Others said I had a skin problem. But none said I had a genetic disease," Jardim said. "It was only in 2010 that my disease was properly diagnosed."

Goiania, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Dr. Sulamita Chaibub assists Djalma Antonio Jardim, April 9, 2014.

"I was always exposed to the sun, working, planting and harvesting rice and caring for the cows," said Jardim. "As the years passed my condition got worse."

Goiania, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Deides Freire de Andrade, 44, waits for medical attention at the Hospital Geral de Goias, April 9, 2014.

Goiania, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Djalma Antonio Jardim talks with a receptionist at the Hospital Geral de Goias in Goiania, Brazil, April 9, 2014.

Araras, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Djalma Antonio Jardim, who has a rare inherited skin disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum, or "XP," looks out the window from inside his home in the Araras community of Brazil's Goias state, March 3, 2014.

Jardim wears the large straw hat in an effort to protect his face, but it's helped little, as he has undergone more than 50 surgeries to remove skin tumors.

Araras, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Alisson Wendel Machado Freire, 11, listens to his grandfather Jose Claudio Machado, 77, play the guitar inside their home in the Araras community, March 3, 2014.

Both of them suffer from a rare inherited skin disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum, or "XP."

Araras, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Joao Goncalves da Silva, 80, takes off his hat in the kitchen of his home in the Araras community in Brazil, March 4, 2014.

Those with the disease are extremely sensitive to ultraviolet rays from sunlight and highly susceptible to skin cancers. That’s a particularly vexing burden in Araras, a tropical farming community where outdoor work is vital for survival.

Goiania, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Djalma Antonio Jardim watches his cellphone as he waits for medical attention, April 9, 2014.

Goiania, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Dr. Sulamita Chaibub assists Djalma Antonio Jardim.

Both of Jardim's parents were carriers of the gene that causes the disease, largely ensuring that he would have it.

Araras, Goias state, Brazil

Eraldo Peres/AP

Rafael Freire de Andrade, 8, who suffers from "XP," rides his bike with a cardboard box to shade himself from the sun, in the Araras community of Brazil's Goias state, March 4, 2014.

Those with the disease are extremely sensitive to ultraviolet rays from sunlight and highly susceptible to skin cancers. That’s a particularly vexing burden in Araras, a tropical farming community where outdoor work is vital for survival.