TSETSE MOVEMENT IN WIND FIELDS - POSSIBLE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND ENTOMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TRYPANOSOMIASIS AND ITS CONTROL

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 36  (1) , 53-65
Abstract
Evidence suggesting that tsetse flies (Glossina) can be dispersed by wind is presented. This dispersal in West Africa may be along a south-west [SW] northeast [NE] axis. The implications of wind dispersal of Glossina for chemical and genetic control operations are dicussed. Field experiments necessary to test this hypothesis are recommended. A study of human trypanosomiasis foci in West Africa has revealed that foci are oriented in roughtly parallel lines in a SW-NE direction. This directionality was significant when compared with 7 other compass points. Foci could be populated by infected flies dispersed from the SW, where denser populations exist, on the prevailing winds in the late dry/early rainy season. The significance of these ideas in relation to the epidemiology of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in Ethiopia and T. evansi are discussed.