Abstract
Trypanosomal infections in female Glossina morsitans morsitans were investigated in an area in the Eastern Province of Zambia between 1992 and 1994. A total of 4416 flies were captured, aged using the ovarian ageing method and screened for trypanosomal infections in both the mouthparts, salivary glands and the midgut. Congolense-type infections were identified in 4.8% of the flies. Vivax-type and immature infections were identified in 1.8% and 6.8% of the flies, respectively. The prevalence of congolense-type, vivax-type and immature infections increased with age. For vivax-type infections the age-prevalence relationship could be described by a model assuming a constant per capita rate of infection. For congolense-type and midgut infections, a polynomial term was added to the model significantly improving the fit. The per capita at which flies become infected was significantly higher for immature compared to mature infections. Observations strongly suggest that tsetse acquire new midgut infections at any age and that maturation of these infections is not limited to those obtained during the first blood meal.
Highlights
The complex epidemiology of animal trypanosomosis is greatly affected by the number of infected tsetse transmitting the disease (Lambrecht 1980)
This paper describes a study conducted in the Eastern Province, Zambia in which the age-prevalence relationship of trypanosomal infections in another tsetse species, Glossina morsitans morsitans was investigated
Except for studies conducted by Clarke (1969) and Woolhouse et al (1994) little information is available on the prevalence of trypanosomal infections in Zambian tsetse species
Summary
The complex epidemiology of animal trypanosomosis is greatly affected by the number of infected tsetse transmitting the disease (Lambrecht 1980). Many ecological and physiological factors have been suggested to affect tsetse infection rates (Lambrecht 1980). Of particular epidemiological interest is the age prevalence of metacyclic trypanosomal infec-. Accepted for publication 19 March 2007—Editor tions in tsetse. This age-prevalence relationship has been described by various authors for different tsetse species A field study conducted in the Zambezi Valley (Zimbabwe) described this relationship for Glossina pallidipes using a mathematical model (Woolhouse, Hargrove & McNamara 1993). This model provided estimates of the developmental period of trypanosomes in tsetse and age-dependent susceptibility to infection
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