Reemergence of Human African Trypanosomiasis Caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, Ethiopia

Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Jan;30(1):125-128. doi: 10.3201/eid3001.231319. Epub 2023 Nov 15.

Abstract

We report 4 cases of human African trypanosomiasis that occurred in Ethiopia in 2022, thirty years after the last previously reported case in the country. Two of 4 patients died before medicine became available. We identified the infecting parasite as Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. Those cases imply human African trypanosomiasis has reemerged.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Trypanosoma brucei; animal reservoirs; human African trypanosomiasis; neurologic illnesses; parasites; tsetse flies; vector-borne infections.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ethiopia / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense
  • Trypanosomiasis, African* / diagnosis
  • Trypanosomiasis, African* / epidemiology
  • Trypanosomiasis, African* / parasitology