A comparative pathology of Trypanosoma brucei infections

Jerry Ngutor Abenga

Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria.

E-mail: jnabenga@yahoo.com; Mobile phones:+2348035877411, +2347056574343

Accepted 04 December, 2014

Abstract

Almost more than any other disease affecting both people and livestock, trypanosomiasis straddles the ground between human health, livestock health, agricultural production and rural development. Consequently tackling trypanosomiasis has the potential to impact on all the development goals of  many nations and international Organizations such as FAO and WHO which includes eradication of extereme poverty. Although the number of new cases of the human disease appears to be on the decline, the number of infections in tourists returning from tropical Africa has not abated. Due to limited active surveillance in endemic nations, sleeping sickness remains an important disease in Africa, while some of the old transmission foci have remained active with the likelihood of new ones arising from animal reservoir hosts, earlier incriminated in outbreaks of Sleeping Sickness. Limited number of autopsy reports on Sleeping Sickness has resulted in poor  knowledge of the pathogenesis and pathology of human trypanosome infections, essential for clinical management of the disease. Knowledge of the pathology therefore rests on incorporation of findings in T. brucei subspecie infection of  animal models. This subgroup includes Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, T. b. gambiense, causative agents of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) also known as Sleeping Sickness., and T. b. brucei, causative agent of Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) also described as Nagana. These do not only share similarities in stage dependent clinical diseases, epizootiology, pathogenesis and pathological features but also share many common hosts and are morphologically indistinguishable. This review is therefore a summation of the common findings in pathogenesis and pathology of T. brucei subspecie in humans and animal models with the view to enhancing  knowledge and control of Afican trypanosomiasis.

Keywords: Pathology, Trypanosoma brucei, man, animals