Statistics show 344 new cases of sleeping sickness were recorded in northern Angola in the third quarter of this year, said Dr Andrew Jamieson of Medinfo on Thursday.
Jamieson said over 6 000 cases were reported across the Angola in 2000. The 344 cases were reported in Angola’s Uige province. According to the Ango-Tryp Health Centre where 100 victims are being treated, the disease was spreading and the Angolan government lacked the resources to fight the disease.
Sleeping sickness (African trypanosomyiasis) is caused by microscopic organisms, commonly found in humans and the larger wild animals. It is most commonly spread by tse-tse fly. Symptoms included a rash, fever, aching muscles, headaches and extreme fatigue. In its late stages the disease was characterised by sleepiness, personality changes, seizures, confusion and, if untreated, ultimately death.
The increased prevalence of the disease was not uncommon in African countries recovering from years of civil war, and such was the case in Angola. The country’s medical services had fallen into decline and tse-tse fly eradication programmes had been neglected during the war.
In the latest outbreak in Uige, four in every 100 people were infected with the disease. Hampered by a lack of medical resources, the Angolan government was concentrating on tse-tse fly eradication programmes. Almost 70 000 tse-tse flies were captured in 1 531 traps in Uige between June and September this year. This, added to recently renewed production of anti-sleeping sickness drug eflornithine, would substantially speed-up the eradication of the disease, Jamieson said. – Sapa