Experiences of the one-health approach by the Uganda Trypanosomiasis Control Council and its secretariat in the control of zoonotic sleeping sickness in Uganda.

Elimination of sleeping sickness from endemic countries like Uganda is key if the affected communities are to exploit the potential of the available human and livestock resources (production and productivity). , the parasite that causes acute sleeping sickness in humans, is transmitted by tsetse flies and co-exists in non-human animal reservoirs. Uganda by Act of Parliament in 1992 decided to handle the complex approach to control of sleeping sickness and animal trypanosomiasis by establishing the Uganda Trypanosomiasis Control Council (UTCC) and its secretariat the Coordinating Office for the Control of Trypanosomiasis in Uganda (COCTU).

Harnessing technology and portability to conduct molecular epidemiology of endemic pathogens in resource-limited settings.

Improvements in genetic and genomic technology have enabled field-deployable molecular laboratories and these have been deployed in a variety of epidemics that capture headlines. In this editorial, we highlight the importance of building physical and personnel capacity in low and middle income countries to deploy these technologies to improve diagnostics, understand transmission dynamics and provide feedback to endemic communities on actionable timelines. We describe our experiences with molecular field research on schistosomiasis, trypanosomiasis and rabies and urge the wider tropical medicine community to embrace these methods and help build capacity to benefit communities affected by endemic infectious diseases.

Factors associated with persistence of African animal trypanosomiasis in Lango subregion, northern Uganda.

African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) continues to inflict heavy losses on livestock production especially cattle in terms of decreased production and productivity in Uganda. AAT is a disease complex caused by tsetse fly-transmitted Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, Trypanosoma congolense, and Trypanosoma vivax. The disease is most important in cattle but also known to cause serious losses in pigs, camels, goats, and sheep.