Know your foe: lessons from the analysis of tsetse fly behaviour

The emergence of new vector-borne diseases requires new methods of vector control. These diseases are often zoonoses associated with wilderness areas, and established methods of vector control used in domestic settings (e.g., indoor-residual spraying, insecticide-treated bednets) are therefore inappropriate. Similar difficulties are also emerging with the control of 'old' vector-borne diseases such as malaria. Understanding the host-finding behaviour of vectors assists the development and application of control methods and aids the understanding of epidemiology. Some general lessons are illustrated by reference to a century of research on the host-finding behaviour of tsetse flies which transmit trypanosomes causing human and animal trypanosomiases, including Rhodesian sleeping sickness, a zoonosis associated with wilderness areas of sub-Saharan Africa.