Preventing and containing trypanocide resistance in the cotton zone of West Africa.

Trypanocidal drugs are the most commonly purchased and used livestock input by resource-poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The effective use of trypanocidal drugs by smallholder farmers is threatened by the development of widespread resistance. This is a particular concern for smallholder crop-livestock farmers in the cotton zone of West Africa. A recent project funded by the Germany Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) confirmed significant resistance to trypanocidal drugs in villages with high trypanosomosis risk in Burkina Faso and Mali. Strategies for resistance prevention were investigated. Keeping trypanotolerant cattle was found to be an effective disease management strategy, but farmers' preference for trypano-susceptible breeds, for reasons unrelated to animal health, suggest that the intromission of zebu genotype will continue. Community vector control was found to be effective in managing trypanosomosis in the presence of resistance and the high-level participatory approach tested was found to be more sustainable than low-level approaches previously used in the region. This suggests that participatory vector control with appropriate external support is likely to be a viable option for implementing resistance 'clean-up'. Promoting rational drug use (RDU) emerged as a promising prevention strategy, with clear improvements in farmer knowledge, farmer practice and animal health outcomes. However, policy studies showed low understanding of the problem of resistance and the absence of an enabling environment for RDU. Engagement was initiated with actors involved in the problem of resistance and for its solution, including manufacturers, sellers and users of drugs, regulators and extension providers.

[Epidemiology of trypanosomiasis caused by T. evansi in camels in mali: results of parasitological and clinical survey]. / Epidémiologie de la trypanosomose à T. evansi chez le dromadaire au Mali: résultats d'enquêtes parasitologiques et cliniques.

An epidemiological study of trypanosomiasis was conducted in the rearing areas of dromedary camels in Mali. According to the parasitological and clinical surveys performed, the overall infection rates were 9.5% (29/305) in Western Sahel (region I) and 4.5% (28/627) in the areas of Tombouctou and Gao (region II). The proportion of contaminated herds was 55% in region I and 68% in region II and in some herds the infection rate exceeded 50%. The surveys showed a trend for increasing parasitological prevalence with age. While it was almost nonexistent in young camels less than one year old, it increased with age and reached a maximum in 2 to 5-year old camels. The authors showed that the infection has a significantly negative effect on PCV and on the overall status of the animals, confirming the pathogenicity of Trypanosoma evansi in dromedary camels. This trypanosome is almost the only species detected in the dromedary camel in Mali and it does not seem to cause infections in other animals reared in the same environment.