Performance of diagnostic tests for Trypanosoma brucei brucei in experimentally infected pigs.

Animal African trypanosomosis is an important vector-borne disease of livestock in sub-Saharan Africa. Pigs seem relatively tolerant to trypanosome infection and could act as a reservoir of trypanosomes affecting animals and humans. Our ability to reliably detect trypanosome infection in pigs depends on the performance of diagnostic tools, which is not well known.

Experimental evidence that immune trypanolysis using the LiTat 1.3 and LiTat 1.5 variant antigen types is not specific to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in pigs.

In the context of the human African trypanosomiasis elimination process, reliable and accurate diagnostic tools are crucial for exploring the role of a potential animal reservoir of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. The immune trypanolysis test (TL) using the variant antigen types (VAT) LiTat 1.3 and LiTat 1.

Quality Control and Mating Performance of Irradiated Males.

The biological quality of sterile male insects produced in a mass-rearing facility is a prerequisite for the success of the SIT, which is a component of area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM). Indeed, sterile male insects released in the field must have a good mating performance in order to compete with wild males, but they must also present the required level of sterility. In the present study, the biological quality of sterile male produced in a mass-rearing insectary was assessed through quality control testing.

Evaluation of different blood-feeding frequencies on Glossina palpalis gambiensis performance in a mass-rearing insectary.

Background: The main challenge to the successful mass-rearing of the tsetse fly in insectaries, especially in Africa, is a sustainable supply of high-quality blood meals. As such, the collection of high-quality blood in large quantities can be an important constraint to production. One possible strategy to lessen the impact of this constraint is to modify the blood-feeding frequency.