Facts On Infection & Risk Factors For African Trypanosomiasis

Extent Of Cases Of Infection

The extent of cases of infection stretches across thirty-seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of cases of African trypanosomiasis have gone undiagnosed and untreated since the start of data collection. The Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest number of cases of African trypanosomiasis in the world, which is about seventy-five percent of all TbG infections. Southeast Uganda and western Kenya lost over forty-eight thousand residents to the disease in 2008 and infections are still a regular occurrence in these areas. The number of infections dropped significantly by 2009 however, with less than ten thousand cases being reported. The World Health Organization reported 3,797 cases of African trypanosomiasis in 2014 and 2,804 new cases in 2015. The estimated number of actual cases during this time was actually closer to twenty thousand. The disease caused about 3,500 deaths in 2015. African trypanosomiasis was one of the leading causes of death in parts of Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan. The number of new cases of infection has declined drastically, and eradication of the disease is expected by the year 2020 according to the World Health Organization.

Learn about outbreaks of African trypanosomiasis by reading more now.