Trypanosoma is a parasite that causes sleeping sickness in humans. There are two species that cause this disease: T. gambiense, found in central Africa which causes Gambian fever and African sleeping sickness, and T. rhodesiense, found in southern and east Africa and causes Rhodesiense sleeping sickness. Trypanosoma has a complex life cycle involving two hosts, humans and the tsetse fly. It is transmitted between hosts through the bite of an infected tsetse fly or through its feces. In the human host, the parasites multiply in the bloodstream before changing form to prepare for transmission to the tsetse fly.