Sign into an existing account

Tsetse are biological vectors of trypanosomes, meaning that in the process of feeding, they acquire and then transmit small, single-celled trypanosomes from infected vertebrate hosts to uninfected animals.

Human African trypanosomiasis, also called sleeping sickness, is caused by trypanosomes of the species Trypanosoma brucei. This disease is invariably fatal if left untreated, but can almost always be cured with current medicines if the disease is diagnosed early enough.

Sleeping sickness begins with a tsetse bite leading to an inoculation in the subcutaneous tissue. The infection moves into the lymphatic system, leading to a characteristic swelling of the lymph glands called Winterbottom's sign.[31] The infection progresses into the blood stream and eventually crosses into the central nervous system and invades the brain leading to extreme lethargy and eventually to death.