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Beck (Dr.) & Weck (Dr.). Die menschliche Trypanosomen- 

 Krankheit am Rovuma in Deutsch-Ostafrika. [Human trypano- 

 somiasis on the RoYuma in German East Africa.] — Arch. f. 

 Schiffs-u. Troy. Hyg., xvii, no. 5, March 1913, pp. 145-160. 



In July and August 1911 a number of cases of sudden death 

 were notified to the authorities as occurring' in the village of 

 Jumben Mtira on the Sassawara, and blood-smears sent to the 

 laboratory at Dar-es-Salaam showed two women to be suffering 

 from trypanosomiasis. In consequence of this disT?overy the 

 authors were instructed to make an inspection of the districts 

 involved and 20 cases of trypanosomiasis were found. The 

 organism is said by the authors to be so far different from 

 7'. gamhiense as to merit distinction as a new species, which they 

 propose to name T . rovuma. 



The whole district along the banks of the Rovuma was examined 

 for Glossina; G. jyaVpalis was nowhere found, but G. morsitans 

 was exceedingly numerous in many localities. The area of dis- 

 tribution of G. morsitans in the administrative district of Songea 

 is described as extending along the whole of the Rovuma from 

 the Sassawara westwards as far as the mountains flanking Lake 

 Xyassa and northwards 2 or 3 days' march from the Rovuma, as 

 far as the Matagoro hills, about 4 hours south of Songea. In 

 the southern part of German Nyassa G. inorsitans was occa- 

 sionally found, and their presence there is regarded by the authors 

 as more or less accidental. In the north-east corner of the dis- 

 trict on the Ruhudje, G. morsitans was found in larger numbers 

 and for about 3 hours' march from the junction of the Pitu with 

 the Ruhudje. At Mitomoni, in March and April, about 1 per 

 cent, of the Glossina were found to be infected ; in August and 

 September the figure rose to 4-7 per cent. A large percentage of 

 the big game in the infected areas on the Rovuma and Ruhudje 

 yielded trypanosomes ; goats were found infected at Mitomoni, as 

 well as the cattle of the Chief of Samtanga, 6 hours' march south 

 of Songea, and those of the Chief of Sulinyonga at Kitanda. 



The question of the part possibly played by other insects in 

 spreading the infection is under investigation. Ornithodorvs 

 moiihata is found all over the Songea district, with the exception 

 of the neighbourhood of the Roviima, but appears to have nothing 

 to do with carrying the infection. A large number of these ticks 

 were allowed to bite infected monkeys for 14 days, and 4 days 

 after the last meal of blood neither trypanosomes nor anything 

 resembling them could be found in their bodies ; numbers of 

 Tabaxidae and Stomoxys were examined with a like result. 



The authors discuss the local difficulties in the way of pre- 

 venting the spread of the disease. Removal of the natives from 

 the banks of the Rovuma is hardly possible on account of the 

 great breadth of the fly-belt on either bank, and any effective 

 closing of the frontiers of the district is regarded as impossible, 

 as nothing can be done to prevent infected persons passing into 

 Portuguese territory. A case is quoted of a man and his wife 

 who were both attacked by the disease in the village of Hiwindi 

 in the south of N^yassa and who both migrated to Portuguese 

 territorv and died there. 



