Simultaneous control of ticks and tsetse flies in Satiri, Burkina Faso, by the use of flumethrin pour on for cattle.

Treatments of 2000 cattle at monthly intervals with flumethrin pour on (1 mg active ingredient/kg b.w.) resulted in a rapid decrease of African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT). After an initial curative treatment of the sentinel herd with diminazene aceturate (7 mg/kg b.w.) only positive cases were treated. Three applications of flumethrin were sufficient to reduce the prevalence of AAT to below 5%. Apart from a slight increase at the end of the first year the infection rate varied between 0 and 5%. A tsetse population disappeared from a heavily infested habitat after six treatments. The average tick infestation was 3-10 times lower than in a control site inspite of the repeated use of another acaricide. Between 3282 and 8624 animals were treated five times in the second year at intervals of about two months. 130 monoconical insecticide impregnated traps were deployed in habitats which were inaccessible for the cattle. The highest infection rate of the sentinel herd was 1.4%. Among another 150 eartagged cattle scattered over a district of about 1000 m2 the prevalence of AAT dropped to 4.8% at the end of the second year. Emphasis is put on an active and financial participation of the rural communities to ensure a viable campaign and good prospects of a taking over by local organizations once the external interventions have stopped.