Animal African Trypanosomiasis in humans; an emerging zoonosis?

已知人类非洲锥虫病(HAT)是由两个亚种引起的：布氏冈比亚锥虫和罗德赛锥虫，这两个亚种已经获得了感染人类的能力。大多数其他导致动物锥虫病的锥体，如布鲁氏锥虫、贡戈氏锥虫和间日锥虫，一直被认为只对动物具有感染性。我们在喀麦隆偏远地区的人类中发现了动物病原体T，conGolense的DNA痕迹，这表明这些可能发展成一种新的人类病原体，一种典型的人畜共患病。该项目的总体目标是了解导致动物致病锥虫在人类身上适应的过程。根据这一目标，在应用期间的两年内将处理以下四个方面：潜在人兽共患锥虫的鉴定和特征人畜共患锥体的存在对人类健康的影响在一个活跃的HAT地点出现潜在的人畜共患锥体在最近没有HAT病例报告的地区出现潜在的人畜共患寄生虫

Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) is known to be caused by two subspecies of try­pa­no­so­mes: T. brucei gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense, which have acquired the ability to infect humans. Most other trypanosomes, which are responsible for animal trypanosomosis, such as T. b. brucei, T. congolense, and T. vivax, have been thought of as infective only to animals. We have found DNA traces of the animal pathogen T, congolense in humans loving in a remote area of Cameroon, suggesting that these may develp in a new human pathogen, a typical zoonosis. The overall aim of the project is to understand the processes leading to adaptation of animal pathogenic trypanosomes in humans.In accordance with this aim, the following four aspects will be addressed in the two years of the application period:Identification and characterisation of a potential zoonotic trypanosome The impact of the presence of zoonotic trypanosomes on human healthThe occurrence of potentially zoonotic trypanosomes in an active HAT location The occurrence of potentially zoonotic parasites in an area, where no recent HAT cases have been reported