Topic: Optimal Control of Human African Trypanosomiasis through Mass Chemoprophylaxis and Insecticide-Treated Cattle (ITC)
Presenter: Dr. Damian Kajunguri, PhD
Affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Kabale University
Abstract:
In East Africa, cattle serve as a significant reservoir for Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, the parasite responsible for human African trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness. Dr. Damian Kajunguri has developed a mathematical model to assess the transmission of this parasite by the tsetse fly species Glossina fuscipes in populations consisting of both humans and cattle.
The model evaluates the effects of mass chemoprophylaxis and vector control through insecticide-treated cattle (ITC) on managing human sleeping sickness. The results indicate that controlling T. b. rhodesiense can be achieved by keeping 12% of the cattle population on insecticides with a 100% insecticidal effect or by treating 82% of cattle with trypanocides that offer 100% efficacy. Optimal control is shown to be achievable through ITC alone or in combination with chemoprophylaxis, with ITC proving to be the most cost-effective strategy.
For more information, contact:
Dr. Damian Kajunguri, dkajunguri@kab.ac.ug