[From sleep observation to the discovery of trypanosomiasis and glossina].

The african human trypanosomiasis constitutes one of the fascinating subjects of research about the expansion of the European biomedical science. Its history shows the scientific climate in which the investigations took place. Researching the cause which determined it, the researchers got lost in mistakes and comparisons as well as stimulating factors. It is in this atmosphere that trypanosome had been discovered in 1901 and glossina had been confirmed in 1903. But, the disease prevention needed again a lot of researches to correctly understand the complex links between pathogenesis and vectorial transmission in view of effective control and treatment.