Insights into trypanosomiasis transmission: Age, infection rates, and bloodmeal analysis of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in N.W. Uganda.

Cunningham, Lucas, Esterhuizen, Johan, Hargrove, John W, Lehane, Mike, Lord, Jennifer, Lingley, Jessica, Mangwiro, T N Clement, Opiyo, Mercy, Tirados, Inaki ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9771-4880 and Torr, Steve ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9550-4030 (2024) 'Insights into trypanosomiasis transmission: Age, infection rates, and bloodmeal analysis of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in N.W. Uganda.'. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 18, Issue 10, e0011805.

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Abstract

Tsetse flies (Glossina) transmit species of Trypanosoma which cause human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) and animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT). Understanding the epidemiology of this disease and controlling the vector rationally requires analysis of the abundance, age structure, infection rates and feeding patterns of tsetse populations. We analysed a population of G. fuscipes fuscipes in the Koboko district of Uganda. Seasonal variation in the abundance of tsetse was assessed from the numbers of tsetse caught in pyramidal traps. The age structure of the population was assessed by dissecting female tsetse to estimate their ovarian categories. Classical and PCR-based methods were utilised to determine the presence of the three major pathogenic species of salivarian trypanosomes: T. vivax, T. congolense and T. brucei in a subset (n = 2369) of flies. Further, bloodmeal analysis was carried out using PCR to amplify and sequence a portion of the vertebrate cytb gene. The abundance and age structure of tsetse populations were relatively stable and a slight seasonal four-fold variation in abundance appeared to be correlated with rainfall. Analyses of age structure suggests a low natural daily mortality of 1.75% (1.62-1.88). Infection rates estimated were significantly greater (1.9-9.3 times) using the PCR-based method compared to the classical dissection-based method. Positive rates for T. brucei sl, T. congolense and T. vivax were 1.6% (1.32-2.24), 2.4% (1.83-3.11and 2.0% (1.46-2.63), respectively by PCR. The majority of bloodmeals were identified as cattle (39%, 30.5-47.8) and human (37%, 28.4-45.6). The seasonally stable abundance, low mortality rate and high proportion of bloodmeals from humans may explain, in part, why this district has historically been a focus of sleeping sickness. Additionally, the high rates of cattle feeding indicate insecticide treated cattle may prove to be a useful vector control strategy in the area. [Abstract copyright: Copyright: © 2024 Cunningham et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.]

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QW Microbiology and Immunology > Viruses > QW 162 Insect viruses QW Microbiology and Immunology > Immune Responses > QW 700 Infection. Mechanisms of infection and resistance. QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 650 Insect vectors
Faculty: Department:	Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011805
SWORD Depositor:	JISC Pubrouter
Depositing User:	JISC Pubrouter
Date Deposited:	27 Nov 2024 16:00
Last Modified:	27 Nov 2024 16:00
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/25626

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