Feasibility of community-based control of tsetse A pilot project using Tiny Targets in the Democratic Republic of Congo

摘要

Sleeping sickness (Human African Trypanosomiasis, HAT) is a neglected disease caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense or T.b.rhodesiense both transmitted by tsetse flies. Currently 70% of the global cases of Gambiense HAT (g-HAT) occur in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over the last 20 years, a national programme of screening and treating humans has driven down the number of cases of g-HAT from >30,000 to <2,000 cases/year. However, epidemiological models suggest that the complete elimination of g-HAT across DRC requires the addition of vector control. Accordingly, in 2016 large-scale deployment of Tiny Targets which attract and kill tsetse, was adopted as part of the national strategy to eliminate g-HAT. Targets are deployed by canoe-based teams directed and managed by vector control specialists. Using an Action-Research approach and qualitative methods, we assessed whether local communities in three villages could play a greater role. We found that Tiny Targets were well accepted by local people who deployed targets effectively, but the speed and scale of the deployment was limited by the underlying movement of local people and the rhythms of their life. We conclude that a community-based approach is feasible but not as a standalone large-scale programme in DRC.