New Form Of Sleeping Sickness Discovered In India Stems From Deficiency In Natural Immunity Protein

... In December 2004, the first case of human Trypanosoma evansi -- induced trypanosomiasis was formally identified in India. Scientists from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Philippe Truc (IRD) and Indian medical specialists and the WHO found the cause of this infection lay in the absence from the patient's blood serum of apolipoprotein L-1 (APOL1), a protein that provides human subjects with their natural immunity against such animal trypanosomes. A double mutation on the gene apoL-1 turned out to be responsible. ...