Trypanosome characterization by polymerase chain reaction in Glossina palpalis gambiensis and G. tachinoides from Burkina Faso

Following the discovery of four cases of African human trypanosomiasis, an entomological survey was conducted along the Mouhoun river in southwest Burkina Faso to collect Glossina palpalis gambiensis and G. tachinoides. Among 226 flies dissected, 4.87% (eleven individuals) were infected in midgut or proboscis, but never in the salivary glands. Polymerase chain reaction analysis was undertaken, and was able to characterize all the proboscis infections, and half of the midgut infections. Only Trypanosoma simiae and T. vivax were found in the organs of infected flies, in single or mixed-species infections. Ten more flies, negative with parasitological examination, were tested with Trypanozoon primers and remained negative. The epidemiological significance of the absence of T. brucei group infections in wild tsetse populations and the presence of T. simiae in G. p. gambiensis are discussed.