TRYPANOSOMIASIS, AFRICAN – CHAD: ELIMINATION
A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Sat 6 Jul 2024
Source: Washington Post [edited]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/07/06/sleeping-sickness-who-chad-tsetsefly/
Chad has eliminated human African trypanosomiasis, a fly-borne
tropical disease also known as sleeping sickness, the World Health
Organization recently announced.
The elimination marks a milestone for the agency’s program targeting
what it calls neglected tropical diseases. The WHO hopes to eliminate
such diseases, most of which disproportionately affect poor and rural
populations, in 100 nations. Chad is the 51st country to successfully
eliminate such a disease, the agency reports in a news release.
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by parasites and spread
through the bite of the tsetse fly. The disease can take months or
more than a year to progress, first causing flu-like symptoms and then
crossing into the central nervous system. HAT can cause behavior
changes and disrupt sleep, triggering aggression and other symptoms.
When left untreated, it is nearly always fatal. Since there is no
vaccine to prevent the disease, eradication efforts usually focus on
controlling tsetse flies and preventing fly bites.
The disease comes in 2 forms named after the type of parasite that
causes it. The gambiense form is most common, and makes up about 92%
of cases. So far, Togo, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, Equatorial
Guinea, Ghana and Chad have eliminated the disease. The other variant,
the rhodesiense form, has been eliminated in Rwanda.
HAT was once much less common, falling to just 4435 cases declared in
Africa in 1964. But the disease resurged in the 2nd half of the 20th
century as emerging African nations underwent wars and political and
social instability, and by 1998 the WHO counted 37 991 new cases per
year.
Chad eliminated HAT with improved surveillance, testing and pest
control, the WHO reports. “This achievement results from years of
dedicated efforts by our health workers, communities, and partners,”
said Abdel Modjid Abderahim Mahamat, Chad’s minister of health, in the
news release. “We will continue this momentum to tackle other
neglected tropical diseases and ensure a healthier future for all
Chadians.”