Dr. Sörge Kelm, University of Bremen, will discuss African Trypanosomosis - A Disease of Neglected People
When:Thursday, October 11th, 2018 12:00
PM to 1:15
PM
Where:Summerlee Science Complex 1511
African Trypanosomosis, known as sleeping sickness in humans and as Nagana in livestock animals, is a devastating disease caused by infections with the parasites of the genus Trypanosoma, which are transmitted by blood sucking tsetse flies. Due to the wide distribution of the vector insects in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), millions of people are affected by Trypanosomosis, mainly in remote rural areas. Human sleeping sickness, listed as one of the so-called “Neglected Tropical Diseases” (NTD) by the WHO, has been successfully controlled in most parts of the continent and nowadays is restricted to a few foci. However, the socioeconomic consequences of Nagana in livestock animals is devastating and prevents productive animal farming in large areas of SSA. It causes an annual loss of about 4.5 billion USD in agriculture productivity due to the death of more than 3 million cattle.
For the affected communities, Trypanosomosis adds to many other diseases, e.g. due to infection or caused by malnutrition, as well as poor intrastructure, including little or no access to education or medical health care. Thus, Trypanosomosis is not (only) a NDT, it should be looked at as a Disease of Neglected People.
