Sleeping sickness, which kills about 50,000 people in Africa each year, now has a potential treatment as claimed by Scottish and Canadian scientists.

A team of University of Dundee scientists has received funding to conduct a research in those diseases that major drugs companies neglect.

The team stated that a human enzyme essential for the illness-causing parasite could be disabled by medication and in about 18 months, the drug could be ready for human clinical trials.

According to Professor Mike Ferguson the medication appeared to be effective and in mice.

He said, "What this discovery means is that we've identified a way of killing the parasite very, very specifically. We have developed, if you like, a magic bullet that goes right to one of the main organs of the parasite and kills it very, very effectively. The prototype drug that we have at the moment appears to be extremely safe."