Standardisation and evaluation of a manual salivation technique for the detection of trypanosome infections in tsetse fly (Diptera: Glossinidae)

Abstract

Two methods of salivation of tsetse flies, namely manual salivation and method of Bruce et al. were simultaneously evaluated on 1,702 male uninfected Glossina palpalis palpalis (Zaïre), G. palpalis gambiensis (Bobo-Dioulasso), G. p. gambiensis (Maisons-Alfort) et G. morsitans morsitans (Mall) fasted for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The risk of salivation was 0.66 by the manual method and 0.01 by the method of Bruce et al. The manual salivation method was standardised on 79 male G. m. morsitans (Mall) infected with Trypanosoma congolense IL 1180. By this method, 70.88 % of flies carrying mature and/or immature infection were identified. A clear difference was observed in the proportion of tsetse flies which salivated after 72 hours and those which salivated after 48 and 24 hours of fasting.