Species-specific probes for the identification of the African tsetse-transmitted trypanosomes.

The first step in studying the epidemiology of a disease is the accurate identification of the pathogen. Traditional reliance on morphological identification has given way to the use of molecular methods for the detection and identification of pathogens, greatly improving our understanding of epidemiology. For the African tsetse-transmitted trypanosomes, the growth of PCR methods for identification of trypanosomes has led to increased appreciation of trypanosome genetic diversity and discovery of hitherto unknown trypanosome species, as well as greater knowledge about the number and type of trypanosome infections circulating in mammalian hosts and vectors. Sequence data and phylogenetic analysis have provided quantitative information on the relatedness of different trypanosome species and allowed the new trypanosome genotypes discovered through the use of species identification methods in the field to be accurately placed in the phylogenetic tree.