Factors influencing the sero-prevalence of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense sleeping sickness in Juba District, Central Equatoria State, Southern Sudan

Yassir Osman Mohammed¹, Khitma Hassan ElMalik², Mohammed Musa Mohammed-Ahmed³ and Intisar Elrayah^4*

1Department of Tsetse and Trypanosomosis Control, Centeral Veterinary Research Laboratries (CVRL), Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Sudan.

2Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan.

3Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Sudan.

⁴Tropical Medicine Research Institute (TMRI), Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Sudan.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: intisar62@yahoo.com. Tel: +249-912234657.

Accepted 19 May, 2010

Abstract

A surveillance of the Gambian type of Human African Trypanosomosis (HAT) conducted in Juba area using the Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosomosis (CATT) showed that 257 (11.1%) out of 2322 individuals were sero-positive. The sero-positive rate in the pooled adults was higher but not significanty different from that of the pooled children. The adult females sero-prevalence rate was significantly higher than those of adult males, male or female children. There were no significant differences in the sero-prevalence rates between adult men and male or female children. The internally-displaced group and the military personnel showed statistically higher sero-positive rates than the resident groups regardless of the presence or absence of the only extant tsetse species, Glossina fuscipes fuscipes. The proportions of sero-positives differed significantly between locations in the study area. The respondents examined along the riverine vegetation had a statistically higher encounter with the disease than those in the derived savanna and the open savanna woodland. There was no significant correlation between the density of G. fuscipes fuscipes and the incidence of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense.

Key words: CATT, sero-prevalence, sleeping sickness, HAT, Gambian type.