Jornal de Doenças Tropicais e Saúde Pública

Abstrato

Sustainability Assessment of the Integrated Biological Methods for Tsetse Fly (Glossina spp) Control in Sub-Saharan Africa

Wilson Charles Wilson

Tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) are the major important vectors of the trypanosomes, which causes nagana or African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT) and Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness. The disease affects most rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where it affects both human and animal health, as well as agricultural production. Due to the higher costs of disease treatment, the risk of drug resistance, the residual effects of insecticides on the environment and the lack of effective vaccines, tsetse fly control remains the most efficient and sustainable method to control trypanosomosis. Among the existing control methods available, the use of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in the frame of area-wide integrated pest management technique (AW-IPM) has been successful in most areas. Also, the integration of SIT with Entomopathogenic Fungi (EPF) and auto-sterilization by using Insect Growth Regulators (IGR) seems to be the most efficient and sustainable method to suppress the tsetse flies’ population. In this essay, I examine the current methods that involve integrated biological control of tsetse flies and discuss the efficacy and strategies for their use in order to suppress the tsetse population.