Fed Govt to fight sleeping sickness with sterile tsetse flies

To effectively fight the scourge of trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in the country, the Federal Government has approved the construction of a modern tsetse fly mass rearing facility in Vom, Plateau State.

The facility is to generate millions of sterile male tsetse flies for field release to mop up populations that may persist after suppression to achieve eradication.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who broke the news yesterday in Abuja, said tsetse fly poses serious problem to livestock production in Africa as well as to human health.

The minister said the country was willing to lead Africa in the fight against tsetse fly and work closely with other nations on the continent to reclaim land occupied by the insects.

Onu spoke at the 35th International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control (ISCTRC) and the 18th meeting of Pan-African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Control (PATTEC).

He said: “This Conference is very important for Africa’s search for food security. Africa, as the second largest continent, has enough arable land for Africans to feed the world. Hence, Africa should not suffer from hunger and poverty. The tsetse fly has posed very serious problems to livestock production in Africa, as well as to human health.

“Its effective control has become absolutely necessary for us in Africa to attain self-sufficiency in livestock production as well as maintain human health. Effectively controlling tsetse fly is a task that must be done, in view of the fact that Africa is made up of young people with an increasing population. Achieving this will help us feed ourselves, remain healthy, grow our economy and create jobs for our people.

“I am very happy that Nigeria played a very important role in the decision of the African Heads of State and Government that endorsed the PATTEC initiative. My ministry, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, has always given PATTEC-Nigeria the much needed attention it rightly deserves.

“This will continue. Many effective measures were taken in the past. We have just approved the construction of a modern tsetse mass rearing facility at Vom to generate millions of sterile males for field releases to mop up populations that may persist after suppression to achieve eradication.”

“I am happy to inform you that with the measures already put in place, Nigeria will indeed lead Africa in the fight against the tsetse fly. We want to work closely with all other nations in Africa so that together we can reclaim our land presently occupied by tsetse flies.”

The Director of African Union’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) Prof. Ahmed El-Sawalthy said the tsetse fly, which is only found in Sub-Saharan Africa, causes sleeping sickness in humans and affects animals.

He said: “This problem exists in Africa and we need to sort it out as Africans. This disease is trans-border; no one country can control the disease. All efforts must be put in place by member-states in the region. This meeting is one we hold every two years. But this year, we are here to review what we have achieved, the challenges and how to move forward.

“Trypanosomiasis is one of the parasitic diseases proptosis transmitted by the insect tsetse fly and the insect is present in Sub-Saharan Africa and it affects animals and humans. It causes sleeping sickness in humans. It is not an easy disease that can be treated as others.”