Sleeping sickness in Africa studied

A disease that is known as sleeping sickness is being studied in order to find a remedy to the problem.

Researchers at universities in Liverpool and Edinburgh are currently working on a solution to sleeping sickness, which is spread across sub-Saharan Africa by the tsetse fly.

A parasite survives inside the gut of the flies and goes on to attack the central nervous system.

According to World Health organisation figures, there are between 50,000 and 70,000 cases of the disease and more than 60 million are at risk.

Dr Pegine Walrad, of the University of Edinburgh's school of biological sciences, told the Associated Press: "Our findings provide a key to understanding how the parasite controls its protective protein coats in order to survive.

"If we can learn more about how this happens, and how to stop it, we will be better equipped to target this devastating disease."

There are 36 countries in Africa where people are affected by the disease.

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