Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 1963;28(5-6):645–652.

Some principles of the epidemiology of human trypanosomiasis in Africa*

K C Willett
PMCID: PMC2554951  PMID: 14000803

Abstract

Human trypanosomiasis in Africa is treated as a disease complex in which three main elements are involved, the vertebrate host, the parasite and the insect vector, and the epidemiology is discussed in terms of the three pairs of relationships between these elements.

Under host-vector relationships the significance of the type of man-fly contact is pointed out and an outline given of how it may be determined, and transmission of the disease influenced, by human activities, climatic factors and other conditions, in both Trypanosoma gambiense and T. rhodesiense sleeping-sickness.

Under host-parasite relations consideration is given to the question of reservoir hosts, variations between human-infective strains in virulence, infectivity to animals and response to chemotherapy, and the relationships of these factors to one another and to the epidemiology of the disease.

The complexity of factors involved in vector-parasite relations is discussed and the need for fuller information on the relative importance of these factors is stressed.

Full text

PDF
645

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. APTED F. I. Sleeping sickness in Tanganyika, past, present, and future. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1962 Jan;56:15–29. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(62)90086-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. GODFREY D. G., KILLICK-KENDRICK R. Bovine trypanosomiasis in Nigeria. I. The inoculation of blood into rats as a method of survey in the Donga Valley, Benue Province. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1961 Oct;55:287–297. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. GODFREY D. G. Types of Trypanosoma congolense. I. Morphological differences. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1960 Dec;54:428–438. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. HEISCH R. B., McMAHON J. P., MANSONBAHR P. E. The isolation of Trypanosoma rhodesiense from a bushbuck. Br Med J. 1958 Nov 15;2(5106):1203–1204. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5106.1203. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. HUTCHINSON M. P. The epidemiology of human trypanosomiasis in British West Africa. I. The Gambia, with special reference to upper river division. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1953 Jun;47(2):156–168. doi: 10.1080/00034983.1953.11685557. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. HUTCHINSON M. P. The epidemiology of human trypanosomiasis in British West Africa. III. Sierra Leone. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1954 Mar;48(1):75–94. doi: 10.1080/00034983.1954.11685600. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. NASH T. A. A review of the African trypanosomiasis problem. Trop Dis Bull. 1960 Oct;57:973–1003. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. PAGE W. A., McDONALD W. A. An assessment of the degree of man-fly contact exhibited by Glossina palpalis at water-holes in Northern and Southern Nigeria. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1959 Jun;53:162–165. doi: 10.1080/00034983.1959.11685913. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. WIJERS D. J. Factors that may influence the infection rate of Glossina palpalis with Trypanosoma gambiense. I. The age of the fly at the time of the infected feed. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1958 Dec;52(4):385–390. doi: 10.1080/00034983.1958.11685878. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. WIJERS D. J., WILLETT K. C. Factors that may influence the infection rate of Glossina palpalis with Trypanosoma gambiense. II. The number and morphology of the trypano-somes present in the blood of the host at the time of the infected feed. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1960 Oct;54:341–350. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the World Health Organization are provided here courtesy of World Health Organization

RESOURCES