Sleeping Sickness: Humans – Symptoms, Table 1 Basic differences between Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense and their pathogenic effects
Criteria | T. b. gambiense | T. b. rhodesiense |
|---|---|---|
Distribution | West and Central Africa | Southeast Africa |
Hosts | Main hosts: humans | Main hosts: ruminants |
Reservoir hosts: pigs | Accidental hosts: humans | |
Vectors | Tsetse flies of the Glossina palpalis group | Tsetse flies of the Glossina morsitans group |
Climatic distribution | Humid biotopes | Dry grasslands |
Virulence | Moderate to very variable | High |
Parasitemia | Low, intermittent | Often high, persistent |
Clinical progress | Chronically | Acute |
Clinical symptoms | Months up to 6 years | Weeks, rarely several months |
Main damage | Central nerve system | Heart |
Final lethal symptoms | Chronic meningoencephalitis | Myocarditis, pancarditis, polyserositis |