Charles Waiswa

A burgeoning epidemic of sleeping sickness in Uganda

The epidemic of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness in eastern Uganda, which began in 1998 as a result of movements of the livestock reservoir of the parasite, has continued to spread. An additional 133 000 people have been put at risk of infection in Kaberamaido, another newly affected district. The few resources committed to control interventions in Soroti district have failed to contain the epidemic. The high prevalence of the parasite in cattle presents a significant risk for transmission to human beings and further spread of this neglected zoonotic disease. Targeted interventions are urgently needed to control epidemics and reduce the high mortality resulting from sleeping sickness.

Estimating the costs of tsetse control options: an example for Uganda.

Decision-making and financial planning for tsetse control is complex, with a particularly wide range of choices to be made on location, timing, strategy and methods. This paper presents full cost estimates for eliminating or continuously controlling tsetse in a hypothetical area of 10,000km(2) located in south-eastern Uganda. Four tsetse control techniques were analysed: (i) artificial baits (insecticide-treated traps/targets), (ii) insecticide-treated cattle (ITC), (iii) aerial spraying using the sequential aerosol technique (SAT) and (iv) the addition of the sterile insect technique (SIT) to the insecticide-based methods (i-iii). For the creation of fly-free zones and using a 10% discount rate, the field costs per km(2) came to US

Human brucellosis in urban and peri-urban areas of Kampala, Uganda.

283 for traps (4 traps per km(2)), US

Herd prevalence of bovine brucellosis and analysis of risk factors in cattle in urban and peri-urban areas of the Kampala economic zone, Uganda

30 for ITC (5 treated cattle per km(2) using restricted application), US

How Human Brucellosis Incidence in Urban Kampala Can Be Reduced Most Efficiently? A Stochastic Risk Assessment of Informally-Marketed Milk

380 for SAT and US

Conflict of interest: use of pyrethroids and amidines against tsetse and ticks in zoonotic sleeping sickness endemic areas of Uganda

758 for adding SIT. The inclusion of entomological and other preliminary studies plus administrative overheads adds substantially to the overall cost, so that the total costs become US

Cattle movements and trypanosomes: restocking efforts and the spread of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness in post-conflict Uganda

482 for traps, US

Porcine Cysticercosis in Southeast Uganda: Seroprevalence in Kamuli and Kaliro Districts

220 for ITC, US

Prevalence and spatial distribution of Theileria parva in cattle under crop-livestock farming systems in Tororo District, Eastern Uganda.

552 for SAT and US

Improvements on Restricted Insecticide Application Protocol for Control of Human and Animal African Trypanosomiasis in Eastern Uganda

993 - 1365 if SIT is added following suppression using another method. These basic costs would apply to trouble-free operations dealing with isolated tsetse populations. Estimates were also made for non-isolated populations, allowing for a barrier covering 10% of the intervention area, maintained for 3 years. Where traps were used as a barrier, the total cost of elimination increased by between 29% and 57% and for ITC barriers the increase was between 12% and 30%. In the case of continuous tsetse control operations, costs were estimated over a 20-year period and discounted at 10%. Total costs per km(2) came to US