How to control tsetse flies in fragmented habitats?

Controlling pathogen vector populations is crucial to reduce public and veterinary health risks. Tsetse flies are vectors of major diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change and irrigation have led to a fragmentation of their populations, making their spatio-temporal dynamics more complex. A mechanistic modelling approach has made it possible to predict the distribution of flies under different control scenarios (traps, insecticides) by considering all available knowledge and data. Refuge areas, which allow the resurgence of vector populations, were identified and differ according to whether control is implemented homogeneously or targeted on a territory, and according to local landscape and climate characteristics.

Bibliography :

Cecilia H., Arnoux S., Picault S., Dicko A., Seck M. T., Sall B., Bassene M., Vreysen M., Pagabeleguem S., Bance A., Bouyer J., Ezanno P. 2019. Environmental heterogeneity drives tsetse fly population dynamics and control. bioRxiv, 493650., ver. 3 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Ecology. DOI: 10.1101/493650.