Tsetse fly and African development

I've been reading "Africa: A biography of the continent" to learn more about the indigenous development of Africa and it seems that Africans were slowly shrinking the range of the tsetse fly. Could the range of the tsetse fly have been more rapidly shrunk than it was in OTL? If so what would have been the effects on African development, both human and animal?
 
Have African medical science find out the connection between Sleeping Sickness and the fly, along with the connection between Malaria and Mosquito's (it doesn't have to be exact science, just the knowledge that being bit by these creatures causes illness) that alone will lead to a lot of populations being wiped out in.
 
Great, so you know theres a connexion. Somehow. How do you get rid of them? Without modern tech?

Did the book have any references to the methods supposedly used?
 

Zirantun

Banned
One way that I read about that is a very effective way in controlling their populations is traps. They're attracted to the color blue specifically, and so sticky blue traps are set up in areas that they live. I see no reason why this can't happen at some earlier point in history if the Africans are able to their hands on some sort of blue dye.
 
Controlled burns can go a long way to controlling tsetse flies in some areas. Perhaps practicing them more widely could reduce the prevalence of sleeping sickness. The method that springs to mind is delayed discovery of iron in Africa-without easy access to axes, one culture develops the practice of controlled burns, and thrives so much that the practice spreads even as ironwork is introduced.
 

Zirantun

Banned
Since I'm thinking about them either going extinct or being severely reduced (which of course will have severe consequences on Sub-Saharan African wildlife), I read up on how the transfer of trypanosomiasis works in them. Apparently, there are various different species of trypanosomes that can carry the illnesses and be transported by the flies. Especially when considering the process of biological transmission, in which the trypanosomes breed inside the fly over multiple generations, I think that a fly killing mutation isn't at all implausible or improbable. In fact, it's rather fascinating to thing that so many different species of trypanosomes that are constantly evolving and changing haven't done this yet. The Tsetse Fly has been a rather lucky little critter at the expense of A LOT of other fauna. Just have their luck run out.
 
Well the tse tse fly reproduces by infecting animals that can survive the disease. However, humans and cattle die when infected with the disease, meaning the tse tse fly and humans can't successfully coexist in the long run. As soon as people start driving out wild animals and establish themselves with cattle, the tse tse fly population is reduced because it can't use them to reproduce. The book mentions that "Pioneers were exposed to the acute dangers of the disease, but as people and cattle established control, contact with the vector was reduced." So just by spreading over Africa in large enough numbers with livestock, people could reduce the disease. Then rinderpest came and messed everything up...
 
Top