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. 2008 Feb 12;1(1):3.
doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-1-3.

The history of African trypanosomiasis

Dietmar Steverding  1
Affiliations

The history of African trypanosomiasis

Dietmar Steverding. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

The prehistory of African trypanosomiasis indicates that the disease may have been an important selective factor in the evolution of hominids. Ancient history and medieval history reveal that African trypanosomiasis affected the lives of people living in sub-Saharan African at all times. Modern history of African trypanosomiasis revolves around the identification of the causative agents and the mode of transmission of the infection, and the development of drugs for treatment and methods for control of the disease. From the recent history of sleeping sickness we can learn that the disease can be controlled but probably not be eradicated. Current history of human African trypanosomiasis has shown that the production of anti-sleeping sickness drugs is not always guaranteed, and therefore, new, better and cheaper drugs are urgently required.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Last section of the damaged Veterinary Papyrus of the Kahun Papyri about the cattle disease ushau dating from 2nd millennium BC. The translation reads as follows: (1) Title: Treatment of the eyes (?) of a bull with ushau in winter. (2) If you see a bull with ushau (3) in winter, and he is blinded (?), (4) his two eyes are thick; gash thou as (5) above. If you see a bull (6) with ushau in winter from cold, (7) since its arrival in (?) the summer, (8) his temples are wrinkled (?), his eyes are running, his stomach groaning (?), (9) he does not walk (?) .........(10) ............... (11) ............... (12) thou all his body with ......... as is done to one (13) with a bruise (?) [11].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sir David Bruce (1855–1931). The Scottish bacteriologist identified T. brucei as the aetiological agent of nagana disease.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of reported cases of sleeping sickness and population screened, 1939–2004. Grey columns, number of reported cases; black circles, population screened. Data derived from [27,33].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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