Context
- Recently, Togo has become the 1st country in Africa to eliminate human African Trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness.
About Human African Trypanosomiasis or Sleeping Sickness
- It is a vector-borne parasitic disease.
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It is caused by infection with protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Trypanosoma.
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It is transmitted to humans by tsetse fly (Glossina genus) bites which have acquired their infection from human beings or from animals harbouring human pathogenic parasites.
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According to the WHO, sleeping sickness is currently found in 36 sub-Saharan African countries.
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Treatment involves drugs to kill the parasites.
Back to Basics
About Togo
- It is a western African country.
- Togo is surrounded by Gulf of Guniea in the south, Ghana in the west, Benin in the east and Burkin Faso in the north.