Diseases:

1. Diseases: Angelo Giokas African Sleeping Sickness

2. African Sleeping Sickness or African trypanosomiasis, is a parasitic disease that occurs people and animals. This parasitic disease (a sickness is created by the infestation of contact of a particular parasite), is caused by the protozoa of genus Trypansoma and is transmitted by the tsetse fly. The tsetse fly is a very common organism in the sub-Saharan region in Africa. Most cases of African tryanosmiasis occurs in the western and eastern countries of the Sub-Saharan region in Africa. African Sleeping Sickness The disease occurs in certain regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, covering about 36 countries and 60 million people. It is estimated that 50,000 to 70,000 people are currently infected, the number having declined somewhat in recent years.

3. Causing Agent and Transmittance The causing agent of African Sleeping Sickness is the tsetse fly. While taking blood from a mammalian host, an infected tsetse fly injects the parasite metacyclic trypomastigotes into skin tissue. The parasites enter the lymphatic system and pass into the bloodstream. The parasites are carried throughout the body by blood streams and body fluids after binary fission. In addition to the bite of the tsetse fly, the disease is contractible by mother to child infection (the trypanosome can cross the placenta and infect the fetus, causing perinatal death), blood transfusion and even sexual contact The parasite metacyclic trypomastigotes

4. Symptons Early symptoms of African Sleeping Sickness start with fever, headaches, and joint pains; not uncommon symptoms of many parasitical diseases. However, as the parasites enter through both the blood and lymph systems, the lymph nodes swell up to tremendous size. If left untreated, symptoms spread and attack the kidneys and heart and eventually enters a neurological phase. Easily the most life-threatening stage, when symptoms pass the blood-brain barrier, confusion, reduced coordination, and sleep cycle (which gives the disease it’s name) is disturbed. Fatigue punctured with manic periods increases daytime slumber and nighttime insomnia. Without the treatment, the disease is fatal, and the neurological phase is irreversible.

5. Historical Signifigance African Sleeping Sickness has caused three separate epidemics within the past two hundred years. One occurred in 1896 and lasted until 1906. The other two in 1920 and 1970, were not as severe. Thankfully, there is a cure to African Sleeping Sickness.