Cluster of African trypanosomiasis in travelers to Tanzanian national parks

Game parks in Tanzania have long been considered to be at low risk for African trypanosomiasis; however, nine cases of the disease associated with these parks were recently reported. The outbreak was detected through TropNetEurop, a sentinel surveillance network of clinical sites throughout Europe. frican trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), a serious infection caused by a protozoan (Trypanosoma brucei), is usually spread to humans by the tsetse fly via infected animals and humans. Although the World Health Organization has reported a dramatic increase in incidence in Africa, the disease has remained a rare but well-documented cause of fever in travelers returning from endemic areas. In recent years, infection in returning travelers has been more likely to be due to the East African form (caused by T. brucei rhodesiense), rather than the West African form (which is due to T. brucei gambiense); the latter form causes a fulminant illness for which rapid diagnosis is necessary (1,2). We report details of nine recent cases caused by the West African form of this disease, one fatal; all of the cases occurred in travelers to Tanzanian national parks. Case Reports