Sleeping sickness refers to several related diseases that cause a deep sleep-like state and coma. Left untreated, it is fatal. The two most common types are East African and West African sleeping sickness with approximately 20,000 new cases reported each year. Few cases of the West African strain have ever been reported in the United States, with 17 cases of the East African strain reported since 1968. The technical name for the disease is trypanosomiasis, because it is caused by a thin, single-cell organism called a trypanosome. This parasite can be transmitted from infected animals to humans by the tsetse fly and, in extremely rare instances, by blood transfusion or organ transplant. The tsetse fly bite is painful, often developing into a red sore, or chancre.

Fever, headache, and chills are the first symptoms, followed by swollen lymph glands, aching muscles and joints, weight loss, skin rash, and extreme...