Transmissibility, by Glossina morsitans morsitans, of Trypanosoma congolense strains during the acute and chronic phases of infection

Abstract

In order to verify whether chronic trypanosomal infections can affect the transmissibility of Trypanosoma congolense by tsetse flies, batches of Glossina morsitans morsitans were fed on mice infected with the same level of parasitemia (10(8.1)trypanosomes/ml of blood) of two cloned low virulent T. congolense strains during the acute and the chronic phases of infection. Results showed that the proportions of procyclic infections in flies that were fed during the acute phase (32.6% and 45.4% for isolates 1 and 2, respectively) were significantly higher (chi(2)=4.7, P0.05). The results of this study suggest that T. congolense loses part of its transmissiblity by tsetse flies during the chronic phase of infection. Copyright 2009. Published by Elsevier B.V