By Owich James
Uganda has registered only one case of sleeping sickness in the last five years, according to a new report.
The report indicates that the single case was recorded in Nwoya District, northern Uganda. The case was recorded last year and the patient has since been treated for the condition.
Janet Okori-Moe, the Chairperson of the Committee of Parliament Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries told Members of Parliament on Friday that in the last five years, cases of sleeping sickness in the country reduced from 86 to zero. Ms Okori-Moe adds that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has since declared Uganda sleeping sickness free after successfully eradicating vector-borne parasitic disease.
Sleeping sickness is a vector-borne parasitic disease. It is caused by protozoans of the genus Trypanosoma, transmitted to humans by bites of tsetse flies which have acquired the parasites from infected humans or animals.
It is estimated that 50,000 to 500,000 people die from this disease every year.
