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Ellis-van Creveld syndrome is associated & concentrated more within this Amish community than the general population. The "Old Order" disease is described as "founder effect" because as with the Ashkenazi or communities that are exclusive to themselves, outsiders are not part of their gene pool.
With this particular genetic variation it is traced back to a closed community in Eastern Pennsylvania stemming from a small number of German immigrants. And, this "genetic drift" has been traced to one couple, Samuel King & his wife, in 1744. The mutated gene was passed on to their offspring.