Malawi combats tsetse flies, disease after wildlife relocated to country's largest park

Residents living around the wildlife reserve which hundreds of elephants were moved to in Malawi have been falling ill, since the relocation.

The residents spotted symptoms such as headaches, weakness and pain, which are signs of trypanosomes. Also known as sleeping sickness, trypanosomiasis is as a result of being beaten by tsetse fly. The tiny parasites are companions of the elephants.

Local families described the toll the disease can take.

"I feel too weak," said Chiomba Njati, who was still recovering after a week in the hospital. He said he was bitten while farming near the wildlife reserve. "I cannot even carry a hoe and farm. The home is lacking food and other important things because it is my wife doing everything on her own. This is so worrying."

Since the reintroduction of elephants and other game animals to Nkhotakota wildlife reserve in 2015, there has been an increase in the number of tsetse fly, said Authorities.

The local hospital said it did not have a number of sleeping sickness cases. One community resident, Group Village Ngondo, recalled at least five deaths from the disease.

The World Health Organization says sleeping sickness is endemic in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa but cases have been dropping. Last year just under 1,000 cases were recorded, a new low. The majority of cases are reported in Congo.

The disease is "notoriously difficult to treat" with drugs and easier to treat when caught early, WHO says. The health agency says it is usually fatal when untreated as the parasite moves into the central nervous system and eventually can cause seizures and coma.

Dr. Janelisa Misaya, a Malawi College of Medicine principal investigator, underscored the need to control the tsetse fly population.

"One tsetse can actually infect a lot of people at once," she said. "So we don't want to take chances."
Some villagers expressed concern about the reintroduction of wildlife and the enlargement of the nearby reserve.

To address the problem, African Parks in collaboration with Malawi's government has introduced pesticide-impregnated targets and traps that attract the flies. So far 600 have been placed in the wildlife reserve.They are placed near the edge of thickets in areas that will receive morning and evening light but are shaded from the most intense sunlight during midday hours. The area surrounding each is slashed and cleared with hoes to produce a firebreak to protect it from occasional wildfires.

Local medical personnel are receiving more training to screen for and diagnose trypanosomiasis.

The community has benefited from African Parks' support for screening efforts, said Tenson Mkumbwa, deputy lab manager at the Nkhotakota District Hospital.

"This leads to early diagnosis and treatment," he said.