"Control Options for Human Sleeping Sickness in Relation to the Animal Reservoir of Disease"

Susan C. Welburn, K. Picozzi, J. Fyfe, E. Fèvre, M. Odiit,
M.C. Eisler and P.G. Coleman

To our knowledge, sleeping sickness has existed in SE Uganda for more than 100 years but little effort or resources have been applied to controlling the reservoir of the disease in domestic livestock or in wildlife. Control options have instead focused on controlling tsetse flies. Considering that the spot prevalence of T. b. rhodesiense, the human infective parasite in cattle, can be up to 18% in cattle in SE Uganda, while less than 1 in 1000 tsetse flies are similarly infected, it would seem appropriate to target interventions towards controlling the animal reservoir of disease. A recent survey in this region has shown 100% of village cattle positive for T. brucei over an 18 month period of surveillance. Since this parasite appears relatively non-pathogenic to Zebu cattle, the implications of cattle keeping for human health in this setting are serious.