RESEARCH URGED FOR TSETSE FLY
May 14th, 2009 by admin
An expert has urged organisations to increase their funding for research into the disease-transmitting tsetse fly. Joseph Ndung’u, from the NGO, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), told IRIN news that scientists are moving away from researching diseases caused by the tsetse fly, and are focusing on diseases considered more appealing. He said the World Health Organisation had reduced its funding for the disease because fewer humans are being infected. However the disease remains deadly for animals, and for many Africans, animals are a major source of livelihood. Every year in Africa the tsetse fly costs more than four billion US dollars in lost agricultural income, and kills three million animals, according to the UN. The flies transmit a parasite known as ‘sleeping sickness‘ both to humans and animals.
