| Summary: | American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness, and leishmaniasis three diseases caused by related protozoa of the family Trypanosomatidae . The chapter examines the unique mitochondrial structure of these pathogens, the kinetoplast, which are transmitted in nature by insect vectors and exist in multiple morphologic forms in human hosts. Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, and leishmaniasis are important causes of morbidity and mortality in endemic areas of the world; Chagas disease in South and Central America, sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa, and leishmaniasis in scattered areas on every continent except Antarctica.
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