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Imported African Trypanosomiasis in the United States
- HARRISON C. SPENCER, Jr., M.D.;
- JAMES J. GIBSON, Jr., M.D.;
- RICHARD E. BRODSKY, M.D.; and
- MYRON G. SCHULTZ, D.V.M., M.D., D.C.M.T., F.A.C.P.
Abstract
Since 1967, six cases of African trypanosomiasis have been diagnosed and treated in the United States. Five patients were Americans infected with Trypanosoma rhodesiense, and the other was an African student with T. gambiense. Presenting signs and symptoms for all cases were typical of the disease, but often the diagnosis was delayed. The five Americans had spent only brief periods in endemic areas. All cases responded to therapy although one relapsed. Cases of imported sleeping sickness are few, and the risk of Americans acquiring the disease while traveling to endemic areas is low. However, the early diagnosis of sleeping sickness requires that physicians be cognizant of the possibility of imported tropical diseases.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Atlanta, Georgia.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Richard E. Brodsky, M.D., Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Parasitic Diseases and Public Health Division, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.
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- Received June 17, 1974.
- Accepted January 6, 1975.
