Animal trypanosomosis eliminated in a major livestock production region in Senegal following the eradication of a tsetse population

Abstract

African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) was one of the main disease-related constraints to the development of intensive livestock production systems in the Niayes region of Senegal, a 30 km wide strip of land along the coast between Dakar and Saint-Louis. To overcome this constraint, the Government of Senegal initiated an area-wide integrated pest management programme combining chemical control tactics with the sterile insect technique to eradicate a population of the tsetse fly Glossina palpalis gambiensis Vanderplank, 1949 (Diptera, Glossinidae) in this area. The project was implemented following a phased conditional approach, and the target area was divided into three blocks treated sequentially. This study aims to assess the temporal dynamics of the prevalence of Trypanosoma spp. during the implementation of this programme. Between 2009 and 2022, 4,359 blood samples were collected from cattle and screened for trypanosomes using both the buffy coat and ELISA techniques, and PCR tests since 2020. The seroprevalence decreased from 18.9% (95%CI: 11.2-26.5) in 2009 to 0% in 2017-2022 in block 1, and from 92.9% (95%CI: 88.2-97) in 2010 to 0% in 2021 in block 2. The parasitological and serological data confirm the entomological monitoring results, i.e., that there is a high probability that the population of G. p. gambiensis has been eradicated from the Niayes and that the transmission of AAT has been interrupted in the treated area. These results indicate the effectiveness of the adopted approach and show that AAT can be sustainably removed through the creation of a zone free of G. p. gambiensis.