Human African trypanosomiasis: the current situation in endemic regions and the risks for non-endemic regions from imported cases

Abstract

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and caused devastating epidemics during the 20th century. Due to effective control programs implemented in the last two decades, the number of reported cases has fallen to a historically low level. Although fewer than 977 cases were reported in 2018 in endemic countries, HAT is still a public health problem in endemic regions until it is completely eliminated. In addition, almost 150 confirmed HAT cases were reported in non-endemic countries in the last three decades. The majority of non-endemic HAT cases were reported in Europe, USA and South Africa, due to historical alliances, economic links or geographic proximity to disease-endemic countries. Furthermore, with the implementation of the ‘Belt and Road’ project, sporadic imported HAT cases have been reported in China as a warning sign of tropical diseases prevention. In this paper, we explore and interpret the data on HAT incidence and find no positive correlation between the number of HAT cases from endemic and non-endemic countries. This data will provide useful information for better understanding the imported cases of HAT globally in the post-elimination phase.

The Occurrence of Malignancy in Trypanosoma brucei brucei by Rapid Passage in Mice

“…From a disease epidemiological and evolutionary perspective, this may raise some concerns. In 2020, the World Health Organization achieved their target of elimination of human sleeping sickness from Africa ( Gao et al, 2020 ). However, some concerns have been raised about the sustainability of elimination ( Mehlitz and Molyneux, 2019 ) and there are key concerns about possible resurgences due to unexpected epidemiological factors.…”

Discovery, Development, Inventions and Patent Review of Fexinidazole: The First All-Oral Therapy for Human African Trypanosomiasis

“…Agencies like DNDi are committed to developing drugs for neglected diseases. This agency has many drugs for HAT (SCYX-13330682, SCYX-1608210, and Acoziborole), Leishmaniasis (DNDI-6174, DNDI-6148, DNDI-0690, GSK899, DDD853651, LXE408, CpG-D35, GSK245, and DDD1305143), Chagas disease (New benznidazole regimens), Filaria (CC6166, Oxfendazole, Emodepside, and TylAMac), and Mycetoma (Fosravuconazole) in the pipeline [57,58]. All these pipelines for the neglected diseases have been possible because of the strategies (drug repurposing, collaborative drug discovery, and multidisciplinary interventions) employed to identify the lead compounds [59].…”

“…HAT has been targeted by the WHO, which is committed to terminating its transmission by 2030. The efforts of the WHO have led to a promising decrease in the number of cases at the global level [2,58,61]. Some gaps still exist and need to be addressed to fulfill the commitment of the WHO.…”

Funding for Chagas Disease: A 10-Year (2009–2018) Survey

“…HAT, on the other hand, is a more restricted disease, affecting mainly African countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Cong, which is responsible for 70% of the cases reported in the last 10 years. Although fewer than 977 cases were reported in 2018 in endemic countries, HAT is still a public health problem in endemic regions, receiving USD 50.63 million of investments in the same year [27,28]. In general, investments destined for Chagas disease summed to around the USD 20 million mark.…”