Facts On Infection & Risk Factors For African Trypanosomiasis

Individuals At Highest Risk

African trypanosomiasis occurs in many regions of sub-Saharan Africa on a regular basis. There are over seventy million individuals living in thirty-seven countries at risk of contracting the disease. Approximately one-third of these individuals are at a moderate to high risk of infection. Risk factors include living in an area where the tsetse fly is found and being bitten by the flies. TbG is found in twenty-four countries in west and central Africa, while TbR is found in thirteen countries in eastern and southern Africa. Uganda is the only country with both forms of the disease. Anyone traveling to these areas is at risk of contracting African trypanosomiasis. Individuals at highest risk for this condition are those who live in rural areas and work outdoors in occupations like fishing, hunting, farming, and breeding farm animals. These are areas where transmission occurs more frequently because of increased exposure to infected tsetse flies.

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