[Risk factors for human African trypanosomiasis in the Bipindi region of Cameroon].

In the course of two surveys carried out at the end of 1998 and beginning of 1999, sleeping sickness was diagnosed in a total of 43 people in the Bipindi region of Cameroon. This observation led us to investigate the mechanisms of transmission of human African trypanosomiasis in the epicentrer of the outbreak. A case-control study showed a particularly high risk of infection associated with hunting activities (Odds-Ratio: 2.87; CI 95%: 0.96-9.52). Interpretation of this finding in the light of local geographical features and current entomological data suggests that the higher risk in hunters is linked to the presence of a perennial vector population and absence of domestic pigs.