Trypanosomiasis

Njiru, Z.K., Constantine, C.C., Guya, S. et al. 2005. The use of ITS1 rDNA PCR in detecting pathogenic African trypanosomes

• PCR with primers targeting the Internal Transcribed Spacer allows for species-specific identification of Trypanosomiasis. The ITS region varies between species but lies within a highly conserved region of DNA. The primer set facillitates differentiation between nine species by size comparison after running the PCR products on a gel. The gene of the non-pathogenic trypanosome T. theileri is not amplified with this method.