The Glossina/ Trypanosome Assemblage

The Glossina/Trypanosoma Assemblage will deal with the spread of trypanosome micro-organism (causing sleeping sickness in humans and Trypanosomiasis, locally nagana, in cattle), applications of microbicides, veterinary technologies, and administrative efforts to control sleeping sickness. Successive colonial and postcolonial governments sprayed toxic insecticides to eliminate the dreaded Glossina fly genus, the vector for Trypanosoma parasites. These control efforts frequently run counter to conservationist goals but paradoxically also provides a basis for them: if sleeping sickness was still widespread, tourists would hesitate to come to the region. The Glossina/Trypanosoma assemblage is closely connected to other wildlife assemblages. Glossina flies thrive if there are plenty of wildlife hosts around – the more wildlife, the more trypanosomes. In Namibia, hundreds of people were relocated from wetlands to make way for trypanosomiasis control measures. Some of these areas later became core protected areas. The microbes, their hosts, humans, cattle, veterinarian administrations, scientists, technologies, and insecticides all constitute the assemblage. Pertinent questions for this work package include:

1. How is trypanosomiasis conceptualized by conservationists, planners, and local farmers?
   
   
2. As colonial anti-trypanosomiasis campaigns often took on the character of crusades, how do contemporary government administrations interact with local communities as they launch comprehensive disease control programs?
   
   
3. Recent approaches to combat trypanosomiasis rely on traps for Glossina flies and on insecticides, demanding heavy administrative input and intense collaboration with local populations. How do scientists, officials, and local population interact at this interface?