The word Tse-Tse can also be spelt as tzetze. Tsetse flies are also referred to as tik-tik flies. These flies have been a major talk over the years by scientist and renowned scholars of micro-biology owing to the reason that this parasitic vector causes more harm than good on the economic, social, financial, and agricultural development of the environment.
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Tsetse flies are known to survive after continuous feeding from the blood of Vertebrate animals.
Tsetse fly is the carrier agent of the disease called " Trypanosomiasis "- a bite from tsetse fly. Tsetse fly has higher population in low density regions, Sub-Saharan countries with these low densities are very much capable of transmitting Trypanosomes.
Tse-Tse are very much mobile and covers over 1km per day and also, they are mostly found in riverine areas. A bite from tsetse fly is a medium or way of transmitting the disease referred to as trypanosomiasis from the carrier agent to the host, thereby causing sleeping sickness to the host in question. This bite vastly affect cattle also. In fact, Cattle is the most affected culprit of the bite of a tsetse fly.
To Humans, tsetse flies are the biological agents/carriers/vectors of trypanosomes which causes sleeping sickness on Humans and also a form of danger on cattle inflicting them with a disease called Nagana, and also inflicting pigs with a disease called Surra.
Tsetse flies have long life spans. I.e they tend to live long and produce broods to some reasonable extent over their lifespan.
GLOSSINIDAE is the name assigned to the family of Tse-Tse flies.
Its Economic Importance
Tsetse flies, in as much as it has done many harm, it also has some advantages which is not part of my discuss for today.
In order words, tsetse has infected or negatively affected over 10 million square of Africa as a whole.
This has become a problem left unsolved which is still affecting over 38 countries which makes over 40 million cattle to be at risk of this hazard.
Animals are not the only culprit here, Humans are also affected in a way which has caused the decline of economic, social, and agricultural development of the rural areas.
These diseases caused by these agents have caused Africa some huge amount of money especially the livestock producers and consumers, causing them an expenses of over US$ 4.5 billion annually.
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The word tsetse etimologically means fly harmful to cattle.
Trypanosomiasis of both livestock and human being is one of the most crucial factor that is up till now restricting and hindering the development of the African economy. What I am emphasizing on is that its effect is very much dwindling agricultural produce and cultivation especially in Sudan and spread throughout West Africa. In a nutshell, Africans are the ones crucially facing these havoc caused by the Tse-Tse fly.
While reviewing the distribution of the Tse-Tse fly, Glossina Palpalis distribution is majorly found in South Sudan and they are the most important species in West Africa as a whole.
Although the good news is that human trypanosomiasis is viably getting solutions across Africa and the globe as a whole and there is also a high reduction in the havoc caused by it but the problem still lies on the issue of livestock trypanosomiasis. The fact that it is causing a disease among animals which is rapidly spreading thereby hindering economic and agricultural development still need to be dealt with.
Kudos to medical workers in West Africa who came together to collectively battle against the havoc caused by these tsetse flies on Humans and the eventual and long lasting success they achieved. I think same should be done by vertinary doctors also in relation to livestock trypanosomiasis. Or what do you think reader?
Scientific classification of Tsetse fly
- Kingdom - Animalia
- Class - Insecta
- Section - Schizophora
- Subsection - Calyptratae
- Family - Glossindae
- Genus - Glossina.
The symptoms of Tsetse Bite
- Anxiety
- A headache and drowsiness
- Sweating
- Swollen, painful, and red spots at the affected area
- Dizziness
- Weakness
- Fever.
How to get rid of Tsetse fly
Tsetse flies have a unique feature when compared to other large flies in their specie in the sense that they tend to fold their wings wenever they are resting.
Now let's see how we can get rid of the activities of these Tsetse flies below:
1. Clear the Land
In a situation whereby your surroundings has varieties of Woody vegetations, There is likely going to be influx of these Tsetse flies due to the fact that they enjoy resting on these Woody vegetations. So in this scenario, you get rid of them by clearing the Land. It's simple, just clear the Land.
2. Use Pesticides
Secondly, Should in case the first method doesn't work, another widely used method that has proven to work efficiently is the use of Pesticides.. these pesticides when spryed over the arena gets the Tse-Tse flies restless and uncomfortable and if they don't flee from that region with immediate effect, they die instantly. Sounds cool right?
3. Trapping
Another means of getting rid of these Tsetse flies is setting traps for them, you can do this by applying attractive but deceiving traps that gets them entangled and eventually get caught for slaughter. Lol. In a nutshell, After they're being trapped, you definitely get rid of them.
