African trypanosomiasis causes

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Pilar Almonacid

Causes

Protozoan hemoflagellates belonging to the complex Trypanosoma brucei. Two subspecies that are morphologically indistinguishable cause distinct disease patterns in humans: T. b. gambiense causes West African sleeping sickness and T. b. rhodesiense causes East African sleeping sickness. (A third member of the complex, T. b. brucei, under normal conditions does not infect humans.)

East African Trypanosomiasis

The disease is caused by a parasite named Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (tri-PAN-o-SO-ma BREW-see-eye rho-DEE-see-ense), carried by the tsetse fly. An individual will get East African trypanosomiasis if they are bitten by a tsetse fly infected with the Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense parasite. The tsetse fly is common only to Africa.

West African Trypanosomiasis

West African trypanosomiasis, also called Gambian sleeping sickness, is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (tri-PAN-o-SO-ma BREW-see-eye GAM-be-ense) carried by the tsetse fly. An individual gets West African trypanosomiasis through the bite of an infected tsetse fly, found only in Africa. On rare occasions, a pregnant woman may pass the infection to her baby, or an individual may become infected through a blood transfusion or organ transplant.