Trypanosomes and trypanosomiases / by A. Laveran and F. Mesnil ; tr. and much enl. by David Nabarro.
- Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran
- Date:
- 1907
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Trypanosomes and trypanosomiases / by A. Laveran and F. Mesnil ; tr. and much enl. by David Nabarro. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![longer the case. It can now be said that trypanosomiases are amongst the most widely distributed of diseases. The importance of the trypanosomiases cannot be too much impressed upon veterinary surgeons. All practitioners, as well as all veterinary surgeons, may be called upon to diagnose cases of trypanosomiases, even away from their endemic areas. The extension of the colonial empires of European nations in Africa, the means of rapid transport, and the growing facilities for ocean travel, will undoubtedly favour the spread of human trypanoso- miasis, of which a certain number of cases have already been observed among Europeans. On the Congo and in Uganda the invincible progress of sleeping sickness has been evident for several years. As to the animal trypanosomiases, the danger of their spread from the endemic areas is proved by a number of facts. This danger is increased by the development of commercial intercourse and the transportation of animals by sea, and also by the fact that the trypanosomiases of cattle and horses often run a slow and insidious course. The serious outbreak of surra which has recently afflicted Mauritius is a notable instance of the ravages which certain trypano- somiases can cause, when prompt and energetic measures are not taken to prevent their spread. In two years (1902-1903) the people of Mauritius lost nearly all their draught animals (horses and mules) and a large number of their cattle. The nature of the disease having been unrecognised at the outset, it is easy to see how the animals, scattered over the whole island, rapidly caused the spread of the infection. In Java more energetic prophylactic measures succeeded in limiting the extent of a similar outbreak. [Animal trypanosomiases also occur in the Philippines, and quite recently have been recognised in Hong Kong.] So far as the French possessions are concerned, these diseases have been already noted in Algeria, Tonkin, Cochin China, French Guinea, and the Sudan. Moreover, the fact cannot be ignored that Réunion and Madagascar are seriously threatened. [Most of the British possessions in Africa, as well as India and Burmah, are similarly smitten by these animal trypanosomiases— parts of Cape Colony, Natal, Orange River Colony, and Transvaal ; British Central Africa, Uganda, and the East African Protectorates ; the River Gambia Colony, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.] For several years we have been studying the trypanosomes. It appeared to us that the time had come to collect and to condense the numerous publications on the subject, in order to lessen the labour of investigators, who must find it increasingly difficult to procure the monographs written in all languages, or the articles scattered throughout a large number of journals. Moreover, it is](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21172286_0020.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
