International travel has never been more popular. College campuses offer cultural and service-oriented trips to experience the world outside the classroom. Church groups travel overseas to help with the sick or dying in remote villages and work projects for clean water. Families travel abroad for educational purposes or child adoptions.
This is just a few of the reasons for traveling outside the United States. But to travel abroad, you need to be aware of the health risks ahead.
Sleeping sickness, trypanosomiasis, can be fatal if not treated. Spread through the bite of an infected tsetse fly, more than 60 million people who live in rural East, West, and Central Africa are at risk of contracting sleeping sickness. A widespread tropical disease, sleeping sickness is a species native to the African continent.
With 10,000 new cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) each year, many cases are un-diagnosed or not reported. Over 95% of the cases of human infection occur in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, and Zambia.
The stats are not meant to discourage travel to these parts of Africa but to be aware if traveling for a longer period of time your exposure increases.
To prevent the spread, early diagnosis is key so advanced stages are not reached. Though found in cattle and other animals, the spread of tsetse fly bites is due to the lack of education in these areas to get treated. Knowing the symptoms are key in helping those who may be unaware they contracted the disease.
- Stage one: a red sore develops within a few weeks. A fever, swollen lymph glands, headaches, and aching muscles or joints are a first sign.
- Stage two: the disease attacks the central nervous system. Sleep is affected with jolts to the circadian rhythm. Slurred speech and personality changes are red flags.
- Stage three: seizures can erupts along with confusion or difficulty walking or talking. These problems can mount over years of not being diagnosed.
- Stage four: un-diagnosed cases can go into years of distress on the body and can lead to death after 6 months to year three; however, some cases have been known seven years into the disease.