Using molecular data for epidemiological inference: assessing the prevalence of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in Tsetse in Serengeti, Tanzania

Auty, H.K. , Picozzi, K., Malele, I., Torr, S.J., Cleaveland, S. and Welburn, S. (2012) Using molecular data for epidemiological inference: assessing the prevalence of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in Tsetse in Serengeti, Tanzania. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6(1), e1501. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001501)

Abstract

Measuring the prevalence of transmissible <i>Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense</i> in tsetse populations is essential for understanding transmission dynamics, assessing human disease risk and monitoring spatio-temporal trends and the impact of control interventions. Although an important epidemiological variable, identifying flies which carry transmissible infections is difficult, with challenges including low prevalence, presence of other trypanosome species in the same fly, and concurrent detection of immature non-transmissible infections. Diagnostic tests to measure the prevalence of <i>T. b. rhodesiense</i> in tsetse are applied and interpreted inconsistently, and discrepancies between studies suggest this value is not consistently estimated even to within an order of magnitude.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Auty, Harriet and Cleaveland, Professor Sarah
• Authors: Auty, H.K., Picozzi, K., Malele, I., Torr, S.J., Cleaveland, S., and Welburn, S.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1935-2727
• ISSN (Online): 1935-2735
• Published Online: 31 January 2012
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 The Authors
• First Published: First published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 6(1):e1501
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher