African Trypanosomiasis Dynamics: Modelling the Effects of Treatment, Education, and Vector Trapping

Abstract

African trypanosomiasis is a vector-borne disease that is mainly transmitted by infected tsetse flies. A deterministic model of tsetse fly vector, human, and cattle hosts is formulated and analyzed to gain insights into the disease dynamics. The roles of public health education, treatment, and tsetse fly traps are studied. The effective reproduction number, a threshold used to determine whether the disease persists or dies out in the population, is determined. The sensitivity analysis of the model parameters is performed to determine their relationship with the effective reproduction number. The results show that the tsetse fly biting rate is the most sensitive parameter to the effective reproduction number. Furthermore, the model’s numerical simulation shows that a combination of all three interventions has the most significant impact on the control of African trypanosomiasis. Thus, we recommend that these control measures be put concurrently in endemic areas for effective control of the disease transmission.