Thousands of lives in Africa have been saved by an initiative to help eradicate sleeping sickness. Image Cases of acute sleeping sickness among people in rural Uganda fell by 90 per cent after Edinburgh researchers, led by Professor Sue Welburn, working with colleagues from Makerere University prevented transmission to humans by eliminating the parasite from cattle. Researchers aim to extend the project to all of the districts in Uganda that are affected by acute sleeping sickness. The condition, which is a parasitic infection affecting the nervous system, is always fatal if not treated. Many sufferers are in the poorest rural areas with no access to treatment and are unaware of the risk to their health posed by infected livestock. Researchers eliminated the trypanosome parasite that carries the disease by injecting livestock with trypanocide and by carrying out regular insecticide spraying to prevent re-infection. The results were achieved as part of the Stamp Out Sleeping Sickness campaign, created in 2006 by the University of Edinburgh, Makerere University, Industri Kapital Aid & Relief Enterprise, Ceva Sante Animale and the government of Uganda. This article was published on 2023-11-21
