Sleeping Sickness Epidemics and Colonial Responses in East and Central Africa, 1900–1940

In the early 20th centu- ry, major epidemics of trypanoso- miasis (sleeping sickness) broke out in East and Central Africa. The European colonial powers that controlled this area reacted by sending scientific missions to study the disease, establishing schools of tropical medicine, testing drugs, and instituting measures to eradi- cate the epidemic. Several very distinct approaches were taken to this end. German efforts focused on developing and testing new drugs, but were hampered by a lack of personnel. The British approach was to remove the inhabitants from infested areas and eliminate tsetse flies, the vectors of the disease. The French and Belgian approach was medical rather than environmental; they isolated the sick and injected them with drugs in order to eliminate the trypano- somes from the population. The Portuguese combined both medi- cal and environmental approaches successfully on one small island.