Fake cows kill flies. (The Beat).The number of cases of African trypanosomiasis African trypanosomiasis n. Either of two types of an often fatal, endemic infectious disease of humans and animals in tropical Africa: Gambian trypanosomiasis or Rhodesian trypanosomiasis. , or sleeping sickness sleeping sickness: see encephalitis; trypanosomiasis. sleeping sickness Protozoal disease transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly. Two forms, caused by different species of the genus Trypanosoma, occur in separate regions in Africa. , which threatens over 60 million people in 36 countries, has dropped from 10,000 to fewer than 100 in Zimbabwe through the use of artificial "cows." The fake cows use chemicals derived from cow urine and breath to attract the blood-sucking tsetse flies tsetse fly (tsĕt`sē), name for any of several bloodsucking African flies of the genus Glossina, and in the same family as the housefly. that spread the disease. Formed of panels of blue and black cloth, the fake cows are soaked in insecticides insecticides, chemical, biological, or other agents used to destroy insect pests; the term commonly refers to chemical agents only. Chemical Insecticides that kill the flies when they land. Use of these devices has greatly reduced the amount of pesticides needed to control tsetse flies, amounts that reached 200 tons per year in the mid-1980s. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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