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Field studies of Glossina morsitans Westw. (Dipt., Glossinidae) in relation to Rhodesian sleeping sickness in N'gamiland, Botswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Frank L. Lambrecht
Frank L. Lambrecht
Affiliation:
c/o University of Arizona Medical College, Department of Community Medicine, Tucson, Arizona 85724, U.S.A.
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Extract

Epidemiological studies of Rhodesian sleeping sickness and its vector Glossina morsitans Westw. were made near Motsowi in the western floodplains of the Okovango Swamps, Botswana, during 1967–68. The low apparent densities of the fly (12–27 in three fly rounds compared with 124 in a fourth located in a more densely forested area to the east) and low recapture rates (1·3–3·9%) indicated the Motsowi area to be a feeding ground. Peak densities in January and troughs in October reflected seasonal movements of the fly to and from their dry-season retreats to the east. Most bloodmeals (61%) were on warthog, but 5·5% were on reedbuck in which the Trypanosoma brucei infection rate was 33%. In the Motsowi area the total trypanosome infection rate in G. morsitans was 5·7%,, with T. brucei 0·6%, but the rate varied between localities elsewhere in the Okovango. Man's movements into the fly areas to the east offer the main pathway for transmission of T. brucei, perhaps aided by seasonal movements of reedbuck closer to the settlements. The incidence of human trypanosomiasis is therefore unlikely to be reduced by insecticide campaigns in the farming areas, but livestock will benefit from a reduction in cattle trypanosomiasis.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , November 1972 , pp. 183 - 193
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

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