The effect of cattle infection by Trypanosoma congolense on the attraction, and feeding success, of the tsetse fly Glossina pallidipes

An incomplete ring of electric nets was placed around uninfected cattle and cattle infected with Trypanosoma congolense. The numbers of fed and unfed Glossina pallidipes caught on the nets were used to estimate the attractiveness of infected and uninfected cattle to tsetse, and the feeding success of tsetse on the cattle. There was no difference in the attractiveness of infected and uninfected cattle to G. pallidipes. However, the feeding success of G. pallidipes on infected cattle was 75 % greater than on uninfected cattle. This suggests that certain effects of T. congolense on cattle behaviour or physiology act to increase the probability of transmission of the parasite by increasing the feeding success of the vector. The nature of the effects of T. congolense on cattle which caused this result is unknown, but several possibilities are discussed. © 1993, Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.