Contribution to the epidemiology of Trypanosoma rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Lower Kitete, northern Tanzania, by the cultural practices of the Masai

Tarimo, C. S.

doi:10.1017/s1742758400000175

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Herding livestock contributed the highest risk to tsetse interaction reporting 51.8% and 31.1% in Teso and Busia Districts in Busia County, Western Kenya and Busia and Tororo Districts, Southeast Uganda respectively. Social-cultural activities including bathing at the rivers and stream, fetching firewood and fishing; and occurrence of conducive woody vegetation especially in Uganda were important contributing factors to HAT occurrence in consonant with previous studies [10], [37]–[39], [41], [44].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Culture determines learned social behavior, occupation and knowledge which are often gender specific and could alter interactions between hosts, parasites and vectors thus impacting on vector-borne diseases [37]. In particular livestock herding, fishing, crop farming, and collection of firewood [10], [37]–[39] have been implicated to be major factors that predispose individuals to HAT of which some of this activities are gender specific. Mitigation measures applied by exposed communities include wearing protective clothing, and staying indoors during certain hours.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Socio-Economic and Cultural Determinants of Human African Trypanosomiasis at the Kenya – Uganda Transboundary

et al. 2013

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BackgroundKenya and Uganda have reported different Human African Trypanosomiasis incidences in the past more than three decades, with the latter recording more cases. This cross-sectional study assessed the demographic characteristics, tsetse and trypanosomiasis control practices, socio-economic and cultural risk factors influencing Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (T.b.r.) infection in Teso and Busia Districts, Western Kenya and Tororo and Busia Districts, Southeast Uganda. A conceptual framework was postulated to explain interactions of various socio-economic, cultural and tsetse control factors that predispose individuals and populations to HAT.MethodsA cross-sectional household survey was conducted between April and October 2008. Four administrative districts reporting T.b.r and lying adjacent to each other at the international boundary of Kenya and Uganda were purposely selected. Household data collection was carried out in two villages that had experienced HAT and one other village that had no reported HAT case from 1977 to 2008 in each district. A structured questionnaire was administered to 384 randomly selected household heads or their representatives in each country. The percent of respondents giving a specific answer was reported. Secondary data was also obtained on socio-economic and political issues in both countries.ResultsInadequate knowledge on the disease cycle and intervention measures contributed considerable barriers to HAT, and more so in Uganda than in Kenya. Gender-associated socio-cultural practices greatly predisposed individuals to HAT. Pesticides-based crop husbandry in the 1970's reportedly reduced vector population while vegetation of coffee and banana's and livestock husbandry directly increased occurrence of HAT. Livestock husbandry practices in the villages were strong predictors of HAT incidence. The residents in Kenya (6.7%) applied chemoprophylaxis and chemotherapeutic controls against trypanosomiasis to a larger extent than Uganda (2.1%).ConclusionKnowledge on tsetse and its control methods, culture, farming practice, demographic and socio-economic variables explained occurrence of HAT better than landscape features.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-Economic and Cultural Determinants of Human African Trypanosomiasis at the Kenya – Uganda Transboundary

et al. 2013

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Trypanosomiasis Control in African History: An Evaded Issue?

Giblin

1990

J. Afr. Hist.

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Social control of trypanosomiasis in African history deserves further study. The pioneering work in this field is John Ford's respected but neglected The Role of the Trypanosomiases in African Ecology (1971). While Ford's arguments have received support from recent findings in immunological, epidemiological and epizootiological research, they have rarely met with evaluation or engagement, either in historical or scientific literature. Historians have tended to describe trypanosomiasis control as a matter of avoiding contact with tsetse fly. In so doing they have implicitly rejected the position of Ford, who regarded infrequent contacts between tsetse and mammalian hosts as necessary for the maintenance of host resistance. Ford believed that host resistance, rather than avoidance of tsetse, was the basis of trypanosomiasis control. The historical nature of Ford's work requires that a satisfactory evaluation of The Role of the Trypanosomiases make use of historical, as well as scientific, data. The evidence of trypanosomiasis and cattle-keeping from one region of north-eastern Tanzania supports Ford and suggests that other explanations of trypanosomiasis control are inadequate. The Tanzanian evidence shows that precolonial societies coexisted with, but could not avoid, tsetse. They could not eradicate tsetse because scarcity of water prevented permanent occupation of large areas. Tsetse and trypanosomiasis did not prevent cattle-keeping, but helped to keep the region's cattle population low and confined it to relatively densely settled neighbourhoods. Social control of trypanosomiasis collapsed during the pre-Second World War period of colonial rule. Economic and political developments were primarily responsible for a series of famines between 1894 and 1934. Famine-induced depopulation allowed steady spread of tsetse and wildlife reservoirs of trypanosomes into formerly cultivated areas which had been free of tsetse before the colonial period.

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Contribution to the epidemiology of Trypanosoma rhodesiense sleeping sickness in Lower Kitete, northern Tanzania, by the cultural practices of the Masai

Cited by 2 publications

References 1 publication

Socio-Economic and Cultural Determinants of Human African Trypanosomiasis at the Kenya – Uganda Transboundary

Socio-Economic and Cultural Determinants of Human African Trypanosomiasis at the Kenya – Uganda Transboundary

Trypanosomiasis Control in African History: An Evaded Issue?

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