The vector of trypanosome is the

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks which organism carries (is the vector of) the trypanosome, the parasite that causes sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis).

Step 2: Explain the concept A vector is an organism that transmits a pathogen from one host to another without usually being harmed itself. Different vectors carry different diseases:

• Mosquito (female Anopheles): malaria
• Mosquito (Aedes): yellow fever and dengue
• Black fly (Simulium): onchocerciasis (river blindness)
• House fly and cockroach: mechanical carriers of cholera, typhoid and dysentery
• Tsetse fly (Glossina): trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)

Step 3: Solve Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense are the parasites that cause sleeping sickness. They live in human blood and are passed on when an infected tsetse fly bites a person and feeds on blood. The tsetse fly is therefore the vector.

Checking the other options:

• A. Black fly carries the onchocerciasis worm, not trypanosomes.
• B. Cockroach is a mechanical carrier of germs and not a trypanosome vector.
• C. House fly spreads food-borne germs mechanically.
• D. Mosquito transmits malaria parasites (Plasmodium), not trypanosomes.
• E. Tsetse fly is the correct vector.

Answer: E. Tsetse fly

Tip: Link each vector to its disease:

• Tsetse fly → Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
• Anopheles mosquito → Malaria
• Black fly → River blindness

The "T" in Tsetse and the "T" in Trypanosome should help you remember the pair.