African trypanosomiasis: New insights for disease control

African trypanosomes continue to present major public and livestock health problems in sub-Saharan Africa, typically in rural communities with limited access to diagnosis and treatment. Over the past 50 years, a tractable set of laboratory models for this infection has led to an appreciation of the immunological, cellular and molecular subtleties of trypanosomes, and in particular to their system of antigenic variation that is vital to the survival of these parasites in the host blood stream. Yet as the papers in this volume attest, there are still huge challenges to be met at both the basic and applied biological levels in order that the diseases caused by the African trypanosomes can be effectively diagnosed, controlled and treated...