[Jamot through Bado's eyes]. / Jamot vu par Bado.

The author reviews a biography published in 2011 of Dr. Eugene Jamot (1879-1937), a colonial army physician who devoted 25 years of his life to the fight against sleeping sickness in Africa. In this book, which includes previously unpublished information, the Burkinabe author describes the breakthroughs that tropical medicine has made against human African trypanosomiasis, particularly in Cameroon. He also highlights the interpersonal conflicts with the colonial administration that punctuated Jamot's life in Africa. This article describes the circumstances of the discovery of Dr. Jamot's private papers in 1999 and the insight that these documents provide into the personality of this illustrious army doctor.

Museums and disease: using tissue archive and museum samples to study pathogens.

Molecular studies of archival and fossil samples have traditionally focused on the nucleic acids derived from the host species. However, there has recently been an increase in ancient DNA research on the identification and characterization of infectious agents within the hosts. The study of pathogens from the past provides great opportunities for discovering the causes of historical infection events, characterizing host-microorganism co-evolution and directly investigating the evolution of specific pathogens. Several research teams have been able to isolate and characterize a variety of different bacterial, parasite and viral microorganisms. However, this emerging field is not without obstacles. The diagenetic processes that make ancient DNA research generally difficult are also impediments to ancient pathogen research and perhaps more so given that their DNA may represent an even rarer proportion of the remaining nucleic acids in a fossil sample than host DNA. However, studies performed under controlled conditions and following stringent ancient DNA protocols can and have yielded reliable and often surprising results. This article reviews the advantages, problems, and failures of ancient microbiological research.

Assessing the economics of animal trypanosomosis in Africa--history and current perspectives.

Finding appropriate ways of dealing with the problem of tsetse and trypanosomosis will be an important component of efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa. This article reviews the history of economic analyses of the problem, starting with the use of cost to guide choice of technique for tsetse control in the 1950s, followed by work in the 1970s and 1980s linking these to the impact of the disease on livestock productivity, and in the 1990s to its wider impact. In the current situation, with limited resources and a range of techniques for controlling or eliminating tsetse, the cost implications of choosing one technique or another are important and a recent study reviewed these costs. A novel approach to assessing the potential benefits from removing trypanosomosis by creating 'money maps' showed that high losses from animal trypanosomosis currently occur in areas with high cattle population densities on the margins of the tsetse distribution and where animal traction is an important component of farming systems. Given the importance of the decisions to be made in the next decade, when prioritising and choosing techniques for dealing with tsetse and trypanosomosis, more work needs to be done underpinning such mapping exercises and estimating the true cost and likely impact of planned interventions.

Perceptions and problems of disease in the one-humped camel in southern Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) was first introduced to German South West Africa (Namibia) for military purposes in 1889. Introductions to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) in 1897 and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1903 were initially with a view to replacing oxen that died of rinderpest. Disease risks attendant on these introductions were recognised and to some extent guarded against. There were, however, relatively few problems. One camel was diagnosed as having foot-and-mouth disease. Mange in camels from India caused some concern as did trypanosomosis from Sudan. Trypanosomosis was introduced into both the Cape of Good Hope and Transvaal. Antibodies to some common livestock disease were found in later years.

Medical and agricultural entomology in Brazil: a historical approach.

Medical Entomology emerged in Brazil in the late nineteenth century, through the initiative of a group of physicians dedicated to researching microorganisms related to diseases of public health importance, especially yellow fever and malaria. They led the institutionalization of Bacteriology and Tropical Medicine in southeast Brazil and the sanitation of coastal cities and, subsequently, rural areas. Medical Entomology provided the professionals who would undertake campaigns against agricultural plagues, as well as the institutionalization of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. In the present article, I intend to show how relations between the professionals who gave life to Medical Entomology in Brazil were interwoven and to illustrate their relations with entomologists in other countries. I will also present an overview of the research problems faced by Brazilian entomologists at the turn of the nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth.

The history of tropical medicine in Brazil: the discovery of Trypanosoma cruzi by Carlos Chagas and the German School of Protozoology.

The discovery of trypanosomes in a Brazilian monkey by the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas in 1908, led to the finding of a new microorganism pathogenic to man, Trypanosoma cruzi, and a new human trypanosomiasis. The present work discusses the context in which the discovery happened, and stresses the influence of German protozoologists in the work of the Brazilian scientist.

Biomedical research and public health in Brazil: the case of Chagas' disease (1909-50).

This article analyses two periods in the history of scientific and social legitimization of American trypanosomiasis or Chagas' disease, discovered in Brazil in 1909 by Carlos Chagas, physician and researcher at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Initially we focus on research during Chagas' lifetime, a phase during which the basic statements of the disease were formulated; then, the action in the 1940s and 1950s by the researchers of the Centro de Estudos e Profilaxia de Moléstia de Chagas, located in Bambui, Minas Gerais, is examined. The validation of knowledge that made the disease a scientifically and socially recognized object occurred through a long process that went beyond not only the event of identification of the new disease but the period in which Chagas and his collaborators broadened their research. Our hypothesis is that the work done at Bambui was responsible for reaching a basic agreement on the pathological specificity and social importance of the disease, and was the basis for its recognition as an important medical problem for Brazilian public health and for its becoming the object of government disease control policy.

Experimental paleoparasitology: identification of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in desiccated mouse tissue.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used for clinical diagnosis of infectious disease and to research ancient animal and microbiological DNA from a wide range of tissues. PCR was used to study the possibility of Trypanosoma cruzi kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) extraction from experimentally desiccated mouse tissue (heart, skeletal muscle, liver, spleen, and pancreas). The results obtained suggest the application of this technique to T. cruzi detection in archaeological material.

Trypanosomosis research at the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (CTVM) 1970 to 1995.

This review covers aspects of research work carried out on animal trypanosomes at the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (CTVM) during the last 25 years. The review covers work on antigenic variation, tissue culture, drug resistance, immunology, biochemistry and pathology of Trypanosoma brucei, T. congolense, T. gambiense and T. evansi. It is not intended as an exhaustive review of the subject but focuses on certain aspects of these areas which are presented in relation to work carried out within the broader scientific community.

Historique et evolution de la maladie du sommeil dans les Pays de l'OCEAC

Depuis les annees 70; nous assistons a une reprise generale de la trypanosomiase humaine africaine (THA). Les epidemies de ces dernieres annees se sont toutes developpes a l'emplacement des foyers historiques des dramatiques pandemies de la fin du siecle dernier et des annees 30; ce qui a fait evoquer un genie epidemique de la THA. Rechercher les causes de la reviviscence des foyers et donc de leur maintien necessite de connaitre l'historique et la dynamique de ces foyers; non dans un contexte national mais a une echelle plus large. C'est ce que nous avons tente de faire ici pour les Etats de l'Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les endemies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC) en nous attachant a rechercher l'origine des foyers afin de determiner s'ils preexistaient a la colonisation (foyers primaires) ou s'ils sont la consequence des mouvements de populations lies a l'expansion coloniale

Historique et evolution de la maladie du sommeil au Gabon

La decouverte; puis la disparition ou le maintien des differents foyers de trypanosomiase humaine du Gabon sont decrits a partir d'une revue de la litterature medicale de 1913 a 1990. Si l'on tient compte de ces donnees; toutes les provinces du pays ont ete a un moment ou autre de leur histoire concernees par la maladie. Le risque de reviviscence est souligne pour certains foyers consideres comme eteints

Historique et evolution de la maladie du sommeil en Guinee Equatoriale

La Guinee Equatoriale est le plus petit et le moins peuple des pays de l'OCEAC. Neanmoins la trypanosomiase humaine y a ete severe. Depuis 1980 des mesures ont ete prises qui ont nette regression de l'endemie et qui peuvent faire esperer; si les efforts sont maintenus; une quasi disparition de la maladie

Historique et evolution de la maladie du sommeil au Tchad

Apres avoir decrit l'origine de l'apparition des differents foyers de trypanosomiase humaine africaine du Sud Tchad a partir d'une synthese bibliographique; l'auteur fait une presentation geographique; historique et entomologique des quatre foyers encore actifs (Tapol; Gore; Moissala; Bodo.) Il conclut sur le particularisme de l'evolution de la THA au Tchad qui est essentiellement liee au recul des vecteurs de la maladie devant des conditions climatiques defavorables

Historique et evolution de la maladie du sommeil au Congo

Il semble que le faible peuplement du Congo (2 millions d'habitants pour un territoire d'une superficie egale aux 2/3 de la France) puisse etre imputable en grande partie a la trypanosomiase. Vers la fin de la premiere decennie du XXeme siecle la trypanosomiase etait presque au maximum de son extension geographique. Elle regressera surtout grace aux campagnes de lomidinisation des annees 45-50. Ces campagnes ont ete commencees; au Congo; a Kayes; en 1947 puis etendues progressivement a tout le territoire. Mossaka; en 1951; sera une des dernieres regions a en beneficier. L'histoire de la maladie en sera profondement modifiee. En 1953 les resultats etaient spectaculaires et en 1956 tous les indices utilises pour evaluer l'endemie tombaient aux alentours de 0(pour cent). En 1964; sur l'ensemble du Congo; il y a 75 nouveaux trypanosomes depistes pour 468.000 personnes visitees (population totale 860 000). A la fin des annees 70 la trypanosomiase se reveille brutalement au Congo. Malgre les efforts des differentes equipes qui se sont succedees depuis sur le terrain; dans le foyer de la Bouenza; la prevalence cumule demeure tres elevee avec en particulier 6;47en 1992; annee ou l'on a depiste le plus de malades sur l'ensemble du Congo depuis les annees 50. L'histoire moderne de la trypanosomiase au Congo a commencee en 1895. Un siecle apres la maladie y est toujours dangereusement presente. C'est ce siecle que nous decrivons ici