Control operations targeting Animal African Trypanosomiasis and its primary vector, the tsetse, were covering approximately 128,000 km 2 of Africa in 2001, which is a mere 1.3% of the tsetse infested area. Although extensive trypanosomiasis and tsetse (T&T) control operations have been running since the beginning of the 20 th century, Animal African Trypanosomiasis is still a major constraint of livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa.
We performed a systematic review of the existing literature describing T&T control programmes conducted in a selection of five African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia, between 1980 and 2015. Sixty-eight documents were eventually selected from those identified by the database search. This was supplemented with information gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted with twelve key informants recruited in the study countries and selected based on their experience and knowledge of T&T control. The combined information from these two sources was used to describe the inputs, processes and outcomes from 23 major T&T control programmes implemented in the study countries. Although there were some data gaps, involvement of the target communities and sustainability of the control activities were identified as the two main issues faced by these programmes. Further, there was a lack of evaluation of these control programmes, as well as a lack of a standardised methodology to conduct such evaluations.
Past experiences demonstrated that coordinated and sustained control activities require careful planning, and evidence of successes, failures and setbacks from past control programmes represent a mine of information. As there is a lack of evaluation of these programmes, these data have not been fully exploited for the design, analyses and justification of future control programmes.
Despite decades of control efforts targeting Animal African Trypanosomiasis, its distribution has hardly receded and the situation in sub-Saharan Africa has recently been described as “serious and deteriorating”. This disease of livestock affects farmers’ livelihood and welfare, food security and poses a threat to public health. Our work was primarily based on a review of available information on present and past control programmes targeting Animal African Trypanosomiasis and its vector, the tsetse, supplemented with interviews with key informants. We described and contextualised 23 well documented programmes implemented in five countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia). We summarised and discussed the issues commonly faced by these programmes and identified settings and circumstances which are more favourable for successful control activities. This work can contribute to the design and implementation of future programmes by highlighting the knowledge gained from past activities and experiences of those involved, and making recommendations as to how this can be utilised further.