How the stink of a waterbuck could prevent sleeping sickness in Kenya | Laila Ali

A collar worn by livestock containing animal odour repellent to the tsetse fly could transform the lives of farmers in KenyaThe tsetse fly, found in 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, can be a curse for smallholder farmers and their families. The flies carry the trypanosome parasite that can cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in livestock. But a group of scientists in Nairobi is developing a powerful insect repellent using the stench of waterbucks, a type of large antelope.About two-thirds of Africa's population depend on small-scale agriculture, many of whom are livestock farmers. For these farmers, tsetse flies are a serious threat to economic development and food security. The economic loss in Africa's cattle production as a result of nagana is an estimated $4bn (£2.5bn) each year, according to the Stamp out sleeping sickness campaign.With funding from the European Commission, ICIPE (International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology), a pan-African research organisation that investigates tropical insect science for development, has produced groundbreaking collars for livestock that contain the waterbuck smell, which tsetse flies do not like."Every year we lose three million cows because of the disease; 60 million cows are also affected. The flies are one of the main reasons why 80% of the land in Africa is tilled by hand – simply because we don't have enough animal power," says Dr Rajinder Saini, head of ICIPE's animal health division and principal scien...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - January 15, 2013 Category: Science Authors: Laila Ali Tags: Farming World news Infectious diseases Pastoralism Kenya guardian.co.uk Medical research Features Animals Global development Environment Africa Agriculture Science Source Type: news