Entomology Unit

Tsetse flies are vectors of trypanosomes that cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana, a wasting disease, in cattle. They infest about 9 million km2 in sub-Saharan Africa and are a major impediment to agricultural development in the continent.

Losses due to nagana are estimated at $ 1.5 - 4 billion annually (FAO), and there are estimated to be 500 000 new cases of human sleeping sickness with 45 000 deaths annually (WHO).