sleeping sickness
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Tweet n. 1. An often fatal, endemic infectious disease occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, caused by either of two trypanosomes (Trypanosoma brucei subsp. gambiense or T. brucei subsp. rhodesiense) transmitted by tsetse flies and characterized by fever, severe headache, and lymph node swelling in the early stages, followed by extreme weakness, sleepiness, and deep coma. Also called African sleeping sickness, African trypanosomiasis. 2. See encephalitis lethargica. |
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