[Human African trypanosomiasis in Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso: optimization of epidemiologic surveillance strategies]. / La Trypanosomose Humaine Africaine dans l'espace ivoiro-burkinabé : optimisation des stratégies de surveillance épidémiologique.

The objective of this paper was to describe recent data from Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire on Human African Trypanosomosis medical monitoring in order to (i) update the disease situation in these two countries that have been sharing important migratory, economic and epidemiological links for more than a century and (ii) to define the future strategic plans to achieve the goal of a sustainable control/elimination process. Results of active and passive surveillance indicate that all sleeping sickness patients diagnosed these last years in Burkina Faso were imported cases from Côte d'Ivoire. Nevertheless the re-introduction of the parasite is effective and the risk of a resumption of transmission exists. In Côte d'Ivoire, few cases are still diagnosed in several historical foci and the fear exists that the disease could reemerge in these foci or spread to other areas. In order to achieve a sustainable elimination of sleeping sickness in these two countries, control entities have to adapt their strategy to the different epidemiological contexts. At the exception of specific cases, the current disease prevalence no longer justifies the use of expensive medical surveys by exhaustive screening of the population. New disease control strategies, based on the exchange of epidemiological information between the two countries and integrated to the regular national health systems are required to target priority intervention areas. Follow-up in time of both treated patients and serological suspects that are potential asymptomatic carriers of parasite is also important. In parallel, researchers need to better characterize the respective roles of the human and animal reservoir in the maintenance of transmission and evaluate the different control strategies taken by National Control Programs in term of cost/effectiveness to help optimize them.

[History of an epidemiological route between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso: the case of the Koudougou sleeping sickness foci]. / Histoire d'un itinéraire épidémiologique entre le Burkina Faso et la Côte d'Ivoire : le cas des foyers de maladie du sommeil de Koudougou.

In the first half of the XXth century, while Upper-Volta (now Burkina Faso) was suffering a terrible epidemic of sleeping sickness, the French colonial administration encouraged the movement of people from Upper-Volta to Ivory Coast to meet their demands for labour. This led to the establishment of Mossi villages, such as those of Koudougou, in the Ivorian forest with populations originating from areas of Upper-Volta that were not only densely populated but also severely affected by sleeping sickness. Since 2000, most cases of sleeping sickness in the Koudougou district of Burkina Faso have been in people originally from Ivory Coast. Who are they? Where did they settle in Burkina Faso? Where do they come from in Ivory Coast? After having retraced the epidemiological history of Koudougou villages in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, the history of ten cases of sleeping sickness detected passively at Koudougou hospital since 2000 were analysed. All cases originated from the forest area of Ivory Coast. Understanding the spread of sleeping sickness between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast will assist in the identification of areas of disease risk.

[Ivory Coast uprising and returning Burkinabe immigrants: evaluation of the risk for reemergence of sleeping sickness in Burkina Faso]. / Crise ivoirienne et rapatriés burkinabés: évaluation et vérification du risque de réémergence de la maladie du sommeil au Burkina Faso.

Following the sociopolitical unrest that occurred in Ivory Coast in 2002, 360,000 Burkinabe immigrants returned to Burkina Faso that was the epicenter of sleeping sickness last century and is now thought to be free of autochthonous transmission. The purpose of this study was to determine if the massive return of immigrants from human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) endemic areas of Ivory Coast to areas in Burkina Faso where the vector (tsetse fly) is currently present could lead to re-emergence of the disease. Risk areas for re-emergence were identified taking into account the number of returning immigrants, history of the disease, and presence of tsetse flies. Based on these criteria, study was focused on two villages, i.e., Folonzo and Gbalara, located in southern Burkina Faso near the Ivory Coast border. Study in these two villages consisted of characterization of the population (repatriates or not, origin, ...) and medical surveys to assess the presence/absence of the disease. Departure of some returning immigrants from areas including sleeping sickness foci in Ivory Coast (e.g. center west) confirmed the potential risk of re-emergence of the disease. Although no case of sleeping sickness was diagnosed, several serologically positive people were identified and will be followed up. This study failed to demonstrate a clear-cut correlation between massive population movements due to war and reemergence of sleeping sickness. However, this study may have been timed too soon after the return of immigrants to detect reemergence of HAT that could require several years.

[Schistosomiasis in the region of Ziga (Burkina Faso) before the construction of a dam]. / Les schistosomoses dans la région de Ziga (Burkina Faso) avant la construction du barrage.

The authors report the results of a survey on schistosomiasis in the zone of Ziga (Burkina Faso) where a dam is going to be built. They examined 438 children aged from 7 to 15 years in 5 villages. The appraisal of macroscopic or microscopic hematuria, urine filtration, stool analysis and ultrasonographic examination made possible the assessment of the prevalence and severity of both schistosomiasis. The area was hyperendemic for urinary schistosomiasis. The general prevalence of S. haematobium was higher than 46% and 55% of the children presented at least one lesion of the bladder and 2% of hydronephrosis at ultrasonography. Intestinal schistosomiasis was not observed although few cases have been described in the regional hospital and intermediate host snails have been collected in the area. A surveillance of schistosomiasis, based on school surveys, was strongly recommended in the dam area.

[Large dams, health and nutrition in Africa: beyond the controversy]. / Grands barrages, santé et nutrition en Afrique: au-delà de la polémique.

The population in sub-Saharan Africa is growing faster than increases in food production, resulting in a net decrease in food production per capita. The Food and Agriculture Organization has stated that there is a "risk of widespread hunger" which could be prevented by "effective planning of water resources". However, the potential effects of such schemes on the human population are often inadequately assessed and the effect of large dams on human health is not clear. The potential risk to human health of water resources was emphasized a few years ago but no effective preventive programs were implemented, probably because of inadequate availability of information and lack of awareness. The effects on health of "large" water resource projects are not uniform within a population. Decision-makers have tended to focus on the positive effects, to obtain support for their plans. These include: 1) improvement in the well-being of the population (safe water more readily available, new infrastructure, better access to health care) and 2) increases in the food supply (more vegetables and fish available due to irrigation). Thus, there has been a logical expectation that more, better quality food will become available as a result of these schemes, whereas in fact, health and nutrition has often worsened, particularly in young children. Most of the diseases associated with water resource management are communicable, including diseases directly related to the presence of large quantities of water, such as: malaria, which increases in incidence immediately after the building of the dam, after which a new balance develops between the human population and the parasites, schistosomiasis, the disease which increases most in response to the building of dams, particularly in its most severe gastrointestinal form, diarrhea, as water is a major means of dissemination for many organisms, including those causing digestive tract infections and gastroenteritis (amebiasis, salmonellosis, cholera), due to poor sanitation, other parasitic infections, such as onchocerciasis and trypanosomiasis, which should be monitored as they may also threaten the population. Other communicable diseases may appear or increase in incidence with the influx of migrants to the irrigated area. Sexually-transmitted diseases and HIV infection are a particular problem. The large numbers of insects (mosquitoes, blackflies) may also have harmful effects on populations adapting to the new environment. These effects are related to each other and to the environmental changes. New types of food affect people's feeding habits and generate new sources of income. However, they may also lead to new and higher expenditure. There are also likely to be major socio-demographic changes associated with changes in reproductive behavior and women's activities. The location and nature of new homes and infrastructure (e.g. schools, health centers, roads) also contribute to the success or failure of the dam project. There are many constraints to be considered and a more comprehensive approach to the problem is required. Health and nutritional status may be used as simple indicators of the ability of the population to adapt to a new environment. This makes it possible to construct a causal model to identify the most effective and relevant areas of intervention. Health and nutrition issues are of vital importance and scientific findings should be used in decision-making processes for planning future large dam schemes.