Sleeping sickness—A re-emerging disease in the Serengeti?

Prevalence of Trypanosoma sp. in cattle from Tanzania estimated by conventional PCR and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)

“…Since sequence specificity of PFR-LAMP had already been well confirmed, we concluded that the PFR-LAMP could be an alternative highly sensitive and rapid molecular diagnostic test for Trypanozoon infection (Kuboki et al 2003;Thekisoe et al 2009). Recently, high prevalence of the human-infective T. brucei rhodesiense was reported in cattle and tsetse populations in Serengeti and surrounding villages including Robanda (Kaare et al 2007;Malele et al 2007). Thus, all PFR-LAMP positive samples were subjected to serum resistance-associated gene specific PCR test (SRA-PCR) (Radwanska et al 2002;Enyaru et al 2006).…”

“…In general, T. brucei rarely cause high parasitemia in cattle as compared to T. congolense and T. vivax. Therefore, prevalence of Trypanozoon infection tends to be underestimated not only by microscopy but also by PCR tests (Solano et al 2002;Kaare et al 2007;Jing et al 2009). According to our results, the prevalence of Trypanozoon in cattle in Robanda village (30.4%) was almost three times higher than the previously reported value (11.6%) (Kaare et al 2007).…”

“…In this study, we only sampled blood DNA from domesticated cattle. However, it was also reported that porcine species, such as domesticated pigs and warthogs, were more important reservoir hosts for T. brucei rhodesiense (Kaare et al 2007;Malele et al 2007). Since underestimation of prevalence of T. brucei rhodesiense infection in animal reservoirs poses a serious threat to people living in HAT endemic areas, further LAMP-based epidemiological survey should be conducted in the area.…”

“…Robanda village is located just outside the entrance to the Serengeti National Park, bordering both Ikorongo and Grumeti game reserves as well as the National Park itself (Kaare et al 2007). The village is located on the northwestern border of Serengeti national park, and most people in the area are small to medium size farmers mainly keeping cattle.…”

Challenges in the diagnosis and management of sleeping sickness in Tanzania: a case report

“…The recent occurrence of sleeping sickness case in Serengeti National Park signifies the presence of active focus, most likely with the infections perpetuating in the tsetse flies and wild animals as reported recently by Kaare et al (2007). These findings highlight the importance of the Serengeti as a potential sleeping sickness focus, with risks to local communities as well as tourists.…”