What Is African Sleeping Sickness?
5. Prevalence
African sleeping sickness is a condition that is found in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 11,000 people are currently known to be infected, and around 2,800 news cases were reported in 2015. There were also around 3,500 deaths from the disease in 2015, a considerable drop from 34,000 in 1990.
Considering that so many people in the region live in rural areas without access to medical services, that number could be much, much higher. Breakouts do occasionally happen in which a lot more people than usual will be infected and die. There are also occasional outbreaks among the population of domesticated animals.
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