Do cryptic reservoirs threaten Gambiense-sleeping sickness elimination ?

Philippe Büscher (1) , Jean-Mathieu Bart (2, 3) , Marleen Boelaert (1) , Bruno B. Bucheton (2) , Giuliano Cecchi (4) , Nakul Chitnis (5, 6) , David Courtin (7) , Luisa Figueiredo (8) , José-Ramon Franco (9) , Pascal Grébaut (2) , Epco Hasker (1) , Hamidou Ilboudo (10) , Vincent Jamonneau (2) , Mathurin Koffi (11) , Veerle Lejon (2) , Annette Macleod (12) , Justin Masumu (13) , Enock Matovu (14) , Raffaele Mattioli (15) , Harry Noyes (16) , Albert Picado (17) , Kat Rock (18) , Brice Rotureau (19) , Gustave Simo (20) , Sophie Thevenon (2) , Sandra Trindade (8) , Philippe Truc (2) , Nick van Reet (1)

1 ITM - Institute of Tropical Medicine [Antwerp]
2 UMR INTERTRYP - Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatides
3 UC3M - Universidad Carlos III de Madrid [Madrid]
4 Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa
5 Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute [Basel]
6 Unibas - University of Basel
7 MERIT - UMR_D 216 - Mère et enfant en milieu tropical : pathogènes, système de santé et transition épidémiologique
8 ULISBOA - Universidade de Lisboa = University of Lisbon
9 OMS / WHO - Organisation Mondiale de la Santé / World Health Organization Office
10 CIRDES - Centre international de recherche-développement sur l'élevage en zone subhumide
11 UJloG - Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé
12 University of Glasgow
13 INRB - Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale [Kinshasa]
14 MAK - Makerere University [Kampala, Ouganda]
15 Animal Production and Health Division [Rome]
16 University of Liverpool
17 FIND - Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics
18 University of Warwick [Coventry]
19 Biologie cellulaire des Trypanosomes - Trypanosome Cell Biology
20 Université de Dschang

Trypanosoma brucei gambiense causes human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). Between 1990 and 2015, almost 440000 cases were reported. Large-scale screening of populations at risk, drug donations, and efforts by national and international stakeholders have brought the epidemic under control with <2200 cases in 2016. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the goals of gambiense-HAT elimination as a public health problem for 2020, and of interruption of transmission to humans for 2030. Latent human infections and possible animal reservoirs may challenge these goals. It remains largely unknown whether, and to what extend, they have an impact on gambiense-HAT transmission. We argue that a better understanding of the contribution of human and putative animal reservoirs to gambiense-HAT epidemiology is mandatory to inform elimination strategies.

Keywords: Trypanosoma brucei gambiense; elimination; human African trypanosomiasis; reservoir; sleeping sickness; transmission

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Parasitology

Philippe Büscher, Jean-Mathieu Bart, Marleen Boelaert, Bruno B. Bucheton, Giuliano Cecchi, et al.. Do cryptic reservoirs threaten Gambiense-sleeping sickness elimination ?. Trends in Parasitology, 2018, 34 (3), pp.197 - 207. ⟨10.1016/j.pt.2017.11.008⟩. ⟨pasteur-01849812⟩