World Health Organization

Tsetse fly is a threat to health
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Tsetse fly is a threat to health

Many of us are well acquainted with the ordinary housefly that is inseparable with the rotting garbage neglected public toilets eating establishment and so on.

At least this is kind of a fly does not directly harm our bodies as opposed to a tsetse fly that loves biting our fresh just like a mosquito.

It was baptized this way because they make a lot of noise when hunting the hard to get prey and are about the size of a housefly. Their bites are fierce and very painful.

The infected flies have trypanosomes gathered in their salivary glands and enter the bloodstream in the course of biting their victims.

What are trypanosomes

These are parasites with a single cell and flagellated whose genus is trypanosoma. They are blamed for causing sleeping sickness or trypanosomiasis to humans.

One may wonder why the name sleeping sickness but it is because the death to the victims is from fever; tiredness and anemia hence sleep just ahead of departure to the next world.

Where is the disease common

According to informative studies such as those done by world health organization tsetse fly has ruined the lives of countless Africans because they feed on the blood of humans and animals.

Gambian sleeping sickness is a chronic ailment traceable in central and West Africa and caused by trypanosoma b.gambiense while trypanosoma b. rhodesiense cause Rhodesian sleeping sickness in eastern Africa.

All of the above are a threat to humans with the chronic ones being those of central and West Africa.

The American sleeping sickness or Chagass disease is caused by trypanosoma Cruzi and breathe exclusively in central and South America.

It looks like the tsetse fly loves the tropic climate just like the one found in central and West Africa.

Mode of transmission to humans

One can develop sleeping sickness if they are unfortunate enough to be bitten by infected flies.

These are absolute carriers of the parasite which after the bite find their way into humans blood stream.

Their cycle begins

Subsequent to a tsetse fly bite the trypanosomes proliferate to form a chancre at the point of the bite that looks like a fat boil but fairly painless.

On seeing this the victim may not bother and will assume that sooner than later it will disappear.

On the inside the parasites then attack the bloodstream and drift to the obvious lymph nodes where they also grow causing them to swell particularly in the neck.

After a period of a few weeks or months the trypanosomes cross over to the brain thus interfering with a persons central nervous system.

The cycle is ended

When the above happens a blood thirsty tsetse may be fateful enough to suck the blood of an infected human.

This way the trypanosoma parasite in such blood is off to the flys stomach where it multiply and invade the salivary glands where the cycle ends only to start again if this fly lands on a human fresh who is not infected.

Clear symptoms

The chancre that materializes at the point of bite may swell itch or sting a bit right away.

However after one to two weeks the patient may develop fever fatigue swollen lymph nodes and headaches.

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An original article by Esteri Maina onSLEEPING SICKNESS

Tags: ailment prey africans tiredness bloodstream parasite world health organization mosquito parasites anemia salivary glands genus west africa

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