title: Quantifying Heterogeneity in Host-Vector Contact: Tsetse (Glossina swynnertoni and G. pallidipes) Host Choice in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Identifying hosts of blood-feeding insect vectors is crucial in understanding their role in disease transmission. Rhodesian human African trypanosomiasis (rHAT), also known as acute sleeping sickness is caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and transmitted by tsetse flies. The disease is commonly associated with wilderness areas of east and southern Africa. Such areas hold a diverse range of species which form communities of hosts for disease maintenance. The relative importance of different wildlife hosts remains unclear. This study quantified tsetse feeding preferences in a wilderness area of great host species richness, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, assessing tsetse feeding and host density contemporaneously.
  
  
  METHODS
  Glossina swynnertoni and G. pallidipes were collected from six study sites. Bloodmeal sources were identified through matching Cytochrome B sequences amplified from bloodmeals from recently fed flies to published sequences. Densities of large mammal species in each site were quantified, and feeding indices calculated to assess the relative selection or avoidance of each host species by tsetse.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The host species most commonly identified in G. swynnertoni bloodmeals, warthog (94/220), buffalo (48/220) and giraffe (46/220), were found at relatively low densities (3-11/km2) and fed on up to 15 times more frequently than expected by their relative density. Wildebeest, zebra, impala and Thomson's gazelle, found at the highest densities, were never identified in bloodmeals. Commonly identified hosts for G. pallidipes were buffalo (26/46), giraffe (9/46) and elephant (5/46).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is the first to quantify tsetse host range by molecular analysis of tsetse diet with simultaneous assessment of host density in a wilderness area. Although G. swynnertoni and G. pallidipes can feed on a range of species, they are highly selective. Many host species are rarely fed on, despite being present in areas where tsetse are abundant. These feeding patterns, along with the ability of key host species to maintain and transmit T. b. rhodesiense, drive the epidemiology of rHAT in wilderness areas.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Research Unit, SRUC, Drummondhill, Inverness, United Kingdom.|Division of Pathway and Infections Medicine, Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biomedical Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Harriet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Auty
authors.affiliation: Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cleaveland
authors.affiliation: Tsetse & Trypanosomiasis Research Institute (TTRI), Tanga, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Imna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Malele
authors.affiliation: Serengeti Biodiversity Project, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Arusha, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Masoy
authors.affiliation: Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lembo
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bessell
authors.affiliation: Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torr
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathway and Infections Medicine, Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biomedical Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Picozzi
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathway and Infections Medicine, Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biomedical Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Welburn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D000068316:Parks, Recreational; D013636:Tanzania; D016833:Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology; D014370:Tsetse Flies / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D045303:Cytochromes b