Surveillance and sampling of disease vectors.

Improving the surveillance and sampling of vectors is associated with many issues, including: the relative merits of laboratory studies as against field studies of vector behaviour; the ability to track individual vectors; the cost-effectiveness of traps and confident interpretation of sampling data. In this paper, the authors offer examples of recent progress in these matters and suggestions for future progress, with an emphasis on the need for analytical approaches to be adopted more widely.

Cattle trypanosomosis: the diversity of trypanosomes and implications for disease epidemiology and control.

Trypanosomosis is one of the most significant infectious threats to cattle in sub-Saharan Africa, and one form has also spread to Asia and South America. The disease is caused by a complex of trypanosome species, and the species and strain of parasite can have a profound influence upon the epidemiology of the host-parasite-vector relationships, the severity and course of infection, and, consequently, the implementation and development of control methods. This review will summarise our current knowledge of the relationship between trypanosome species/genotype and the phenotype of disease in cattle, and the implications that this has for ongoing efforts to develop diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for the control of cattle trypanosomosis.

Characteristics and outcomes of hospitalised inpatients with indwelling urinary catheter-a retrospective study from a large regional hospital in Queensland.

BACKGROUND: Indwelling urinary catheters (IDCs) are a common invasive device in hospitalised patients. Their use is associated with increased risks of developing catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), and blood stream infections (BSI). AIMS: To examine the characteristics and outcomes of adult inpatients with an IDC inserted in hospital and identify risk factors for developing CAUTI and BSI. METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational study of 430 patients with IDC admitted to medical and surgical units of a leading (tertiary) hospital between Nov 2019 till April 2020. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent risk factors for developing urinary tract infection and blood stream infection. RESULTS: The prevalence of CAUTI in our study was 7.4%. Results of multiple logistic regression indicated that with each day of IDC in situ, the likelihood of UTI development increased by 9% (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.18; p = 0.03). Age, gender, and catheter reinsertion were not associated with UTI development. CONCLUSIONS: Longer duration of IDC was associated with elevated risk of developing CAUTI. CAUTI rates were higher than some of those previously published. There was no statistical significance in frequency of CAUTI between medical and surgical patients. No statistically significant variables that contributed to the development of BSI were found. Interventions targeted at reducing catheter days should be used to improve CAUTI rates.

Shoo fly, don't bother me! Efficacy of traditional methods of protecting cattle from tsetse.

Studies were made of the efficacy of using smoke and housing to protect cattle from tsetse (Diptera: Glossinidae) in Zimbabwe. The efficacy of smoke was assessed by its effect on catches in Epsilon traps baited with a blend of acetone, 1-octen-3-ol, 4-methylphenol and 3-n-propylphenol. The efficacies of different types of kraal (enclosure) were gauged according to the catches of electrocuting targets (E-targets), baited with natural ox odour, placed within various designs of kraal. Smoke from burning wood (Colophospermum mopane) or dried cow dung reduced the catch of traps by approximately 50-90%. Kraals with a continuous wooden or netting wall, 1.5 m high, reduced catches of E-targets by approximately 75%. Arrangements of electric nets were used to assess the numbers of tsetse attacking live cattle within kraals and/or near sources of smoke. The results confirmed findings with traps and E-targets: kraals reduced the numbers of tsetse that fed by approximately 80% and smoke reduced the numbers attracted by approximately 70%; the use of both reduced overall attack rates by approximately 90%. The inclusion of 4-methylguaiacol, a known repellent for tsetse and a natural component of wood smoke, halved the catches of traps and E-targets and the numbers of tsetse attacking cattle. The practical benefits and difficulties of using repellents and/or housing to manage trypanosomiases are discussed.

Responses of tsetse flies, Glossina morsitans morsitans and Glossina pallidipes, to baits of various size.

Recent studies of Palpalis group tsetse [Glossina fuscipes fuscipes (Diptera: Glossinidae) in Kenya] suggest that small (0.25 × 0.25 m) insecticide-treated targets will be more cost-effective than the larger (≥1.0 × 1.0 m) designs currently used to control tsetse. Studies were undertaken in Zimbabwe to assess whether small targets are also more cost-effective for the Morsitans group tsetse, Glossina morsitans morsitans and Glossina pallidipes. Numbers of tsetse contacting targets of 0.25 × 0.25 m or 1.0 × 1.0 m, respectively, were estimated using arrangements of electrocuting grids which killed or stunned tsetse as they contacted the target. Catches of G. pallidipes and G. m. morsitans at small (0.25 × 0.25 m) targets were, respectively, ∼1% and ∼6% of catches at large (1.0 × 1.0 m) targets. Hence, the tsetse killed per unit area of target was greater for the larger than the smaller target, suggesting that small targets are not cost-effective for use against Morsitans group species. The results suggest that there is a fundamental difference in the host-orientated behaviour of Morsitans and Palpalis group tsetse and that the former are more responsive to host odours, whereas the latter seem highly responsive to visual stimuli.

Control techniques for Culicoides biting midges and their application in the U.K. and northwestern Palaearctic.

The recent emergence of bluetongue virus (Reoviridae: Orbivirus) (BTV) in northern Europe, for the first time in recorded history, has led to an urgent need for methods to control the disease caused by this virus and the midges that spread it. This paper reviews various methods of vector control that have been employed elsewhere and assesses their likely efficacy for controlling vectors of BTV in northern Europe. Methods of controlling Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) have included: (a) application of insecticides and pathogens to habitats where larvae develop; (b) environmental interventions to remove larval breeding sites; (c) controlling adult midges by treating either resting sites, such as animal housing, or host animals with insecticides; (d) housing livestock in screened buildings, and (e) using repellents or host kairomones to lure and kill adult midges. The major vectors of BTV in northern Europe are species from the Culicoides obsoletus (Meigen) and Culicoides pulicaris (L.) groups, for which there are scant data on breeding habits, resting behaviour and host-oriented responses. Consequently, there is little information on which to base a rational strategy for controlling midges or for predicting the likely impact of interventions. However, data extrapolated from the results of vector control operations conducted elsewhere, combined with some assessment of how acceptable or not different methods may be within northern Europe, indicate that the treatment of livestock and animal housing with pyrethroids, the use of midge-proofed stabling for viraemic or high-value animals and the promotion of good farm practice to at least partially eliminate local breeding sites are the best options currently available. Research to assess and improve the efficacy of these methods is required and, in the longer term, efforts should be made to develop better bait systems for monitoring and, possibly, controlling midges. All these studies will need better methods of analysing the ecology and behaviour of midges in the field than are currently in use. The paucity of control options and basic knowledge serve to warn us that we must be better prepared for the possible emergence of other midge-borne diseases, particularly African horse sickness.

Potential vectors of equine arboviruses in the UK.

There is growing concern about the increasing risk of disease outbreaks caused by arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) in both human beings and animals. There are several mosquito-borne viral diseases that cause varying levels of morbidity and mortality in horses and that can have substantial welfare and economic ramifications. While none has been recorded in the UK, vector species for some of these viruses are present, suggesting that UK equines may be at risk. The authors undertook, therefore, the first study of mosquito species on equine premises in the UK. Mosquito magnet traps and red-box traps were used to sample adults, and larvae were collected from water sources such as tyres, buckets, ditches and pools. Several species that are known to be capable of transmitting important equine infectious arboviruses were trapped. The most abundant, with a maximum catch of 173 in 72 hours, was Ochlerotatus detritus, a competent vector of some flaviviruses; the highest densities were found near saltmarsh habitats. The most widespread species, recorded at >75 per cent of sites, was Culiseta annulata. This study demonstrates that potential mosquito vectors of arboviruses, including those known to be capable of infecting horses, are present and may be abundant on equine premises in the UK.

The use of aerial spraying to eliminate tsetse from the Okavango Delta of Botswana.

In Botswana, 16,000 km(2) of the Okavango Delta were aerial sprayed five times with deltamethrin, applied at 0.26-0.3g/ha, to control Glossina morsitans centralis Machado (Diptera: Glossinidae) over a period of approximately 8 weeks. The northern half of the Delta (7180 km(2)) was sprayed in June-September 2001 and the southern half (8720 km(2)) in May-August 2002. A barrier (mean width approximately 10 km) of 12,000 deltamethrin-treated targets was deployed at the interface of these two blocks to prevent tsetse from invading from the southern to the northern block. Prior to spraying, the mean catches of tsetse from man fly-rounds were 44.6 round/day in the northern block and 101 in the southern. Between September 2002 and November 2005, surveys ( approximately 820 daily fly-rounds and approximately 2050 trap-days) in the northern and southern blocks failed to detect tsetse. Simulations of tsetse populations suggest that while spraying operations can reduce tsetse populations to levels that are difficult to detect by standard survey techniques, such populations will recover to densities >100 tsetse/km(2) after 1000 days, at which density there is a very high probability (>0.999) that the survey methods will catch at least one fly. Since none was caught, it is argued that tsetse have been eliminated from the Delta. The particular success of this operation in comparison to the 18 aerial spraying operations conducted in the Delta prior to 2001 is attributed to the application of an adequate dose of insecticide, the use of a GPS-based navigation system to ensure even application of insecticide, and the large size and spatial arrangement of the spray blocks coupled with the use of a barrier of targets which prevented tsetse from re-invading the northern sprayed block before the southern one was treated.

"Plasminogen steal" and clot lysis.

Although initially developed to reduce the risk of bleeding, second-generation (clot-selective) thrombolytic agents have been found to induce more prompt and frequent recanalization than do nonselective, first-generation agents. To determine whether they do so in part by preserving clot-associated plasminogen, human whole blood clots formed in Chandler tubes were studied. Addition of suprapharmacologic concentrations of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) to the media bathing mature clots led to a paradoxic impairment of clot lysis and a concomitant concentration-dependent depletion of clot-associated plasminogen (Western blot analysis). In contrast, supplementation of the plasma with plasminogen (0.27 mg/ml) led to significant conservation of both plasma and clot-associated plasminogen (p less than or equal to 0.05, n = 4), and prevented the diminution of clot lysis (p less than or equal to 0.05; n = 4). Fibrinogen degradation products did not account for the attenuation of lysis with the highest concentrations of rt-PA. In concentrations equivalent to those that were induced by the highest concentrations of rt-PA evaluated, fibrinogen degradation products potentiated rather than inhibited lysis (p less than or equal to 0.05, n = 4), probably by stimulating rt-PA activity directly. When preformed clots were incubated with plasminogen-depleted plasma plus 1,000 ng/ml rt-PA, the plasminogen content in residual clot declined (9.36 +/- 0.46 versus 12.39 +/- 0.69 ng/mg clot found in nondepleted plasma; p less than or equal to 0.05; n = 6). Furthermore, clot lysis was attenuated completely.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Inhibition of cyclic flow variations and reocclusion after thrombolysis in dogs by a novel antagonist of platelet-activating factor.

To determine whether platelet-activating factor is a specific mediator of cyclic flow variations in damaged stenotic arteries and whether it contributes to reocclusion after thrombolysis, femoral arteries in anesthetized dogs were subjected to mural injury and high grade stenosis to induce cyclic flow variations (28 +/- 4/h) or methods selected to elicit platelet-rich and fibrin-rich thrombosis. Oral administration of a novel triazolobenzodiazepine (U46,195 [10 mg/kg]) that selectively inhibits platelet-activating factor abolished cyclic flow variations within 120 min and for greater than or equal to 2 h thereafter compared with persistent flow variations in dogs given saline solution. Platelet aggregation induced ex vivo with platelet-activating factor was inhibited in parallel with in vivo inhibition of cyclic flow variations after administration of U46,195. However, buccal mucosa bleeding time was not affected. After thrombosis, administration of U46,195 before thrombolysis was induced with human recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (1.7 mg/kg intravenously over 60 min) prevented reocclusion within 120 min in six of eight and six of seven arteries by platelet-rich and fibrin-rich thrombosis, respectively. In contrast, in dogs given saline solution, reocclusion occurred in eight of eight (p = 0.007 compared with U46,195) and five of eight arteries by platelet-rich and fibrin-rich thrombosis, respectively. Thus, both cyclic flow variations and reocclusion after thrombolysis appear to be mediated in part by platelet-activating factor. The results suggest that inhibition of platelet-activating factor with specific antagonists may be useful in reducing platelet-mediated occlusion of coronary arteries without eliciting bleeding.

Inhibition of acute platelet thrombosis formation in stenosed canine coronary arteries by specific serotonin 5HT2 receptor antagonist ritanserin.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that platelet serotonin 5HT2 receptors are important in the genesis of thrombosis in stenosed coronary arteries. DESIGN: The specific serotonin 5HT2 receptor antagonist, ritanserin was used as a pharmacological tool to examine the effect of removal of the participation of the 5HT2 receptors on thrombus growth, in a paired statistical design. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIAL: The study involved 10 open chest anaesthetised dogs, with constrictors of critical diameter applied to the left circumflex coronary artery. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Blood flow was monitored in the left circumflex coronary arteries, distal to the critical stenosis. Flow reductions occurred that have previously been shown to be caused by the accumulation of platelet thrombi. By embolising the thrombi, the process could be monitored cyclically (cyclic flow reductions). The specific serotonin 5HT2 receptor antagonist, ritanserin, abolished cyclic flow reductions at a dose of 0.5 mg.kg-1. There was no effect on blood pressure or heart rate on administration of ritanserin at any dose. The serotonin blockade by ritanserin also prevented the reestablishment of cyclic flow reductions by adrenaline infusion (0.4 micrograms.kg-1.min-1), but required ritanserin doses up to 1.5 mg.kg-1. Ex vivo aggregation of platelets was reduced in blood taken from the dogs after ritanserin administration. CONCLUSIONS: These results constitute further evidence of the possible importance of serotonin as a mediator of platelet thrombosis in stenosed coronary arteries.

Know your foe: lessons from the analysis of tsetse fly behaviour.

The emergence of new vector-borne diseases requires new methods of vector control. These diseases are often zoonoses associated with wilderness areas, and established methods of vector control used in domestic settings (e.g., indoor-residual spraying, insecticide-treated bednets) are therefore inappropriate. Similar difficulties are also emerging with the control of 'old' vector-borne diseases such as malaria. Understanding the host-finding behaviour of vectors assists the development and application of control methods and aids the understanding of epidemiology. Some general lessons are illustrated by reference to a century of research on the host-finding behaviour of tsetse flies which transmit trypanosomes causing human and animal trypanosomiases, including Rhodesian sleeping sickness, a zoonosis associated with wilderness areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

Mapping the benefit-cost ratios of interventions against bovine trypanosomosis in Eastern Africa.

This study builds upon earlier work mapping the potential benefits from bovine trypanosomosis control and analysing the costs of different approaches. Updated costs were derived for five intervention techniques: trypanocides, targets, insecticide-treated cattle, aerial spraying and the release of sterile males. Two strategies were considered: continuous control and elimination. For mapping the costs, cattle densities, environmental constraints, and the presence of savannah or riverine tsetse species were taken into account. These were combined with maps of potential benefits to produce maps of benefit-cost ratios. The results illustrate a diverse picture, and they clearly indicate that no single technique or strategy is universally profitable. For control using trypanocide prophylaxis, returns are modest, even without accounting for the risk of drug resistance but, in areas of low cattle densities, this is the only approach that yields a positive return. Where cattle densities are sufficient to support it, the use of insecticide-treated cattle stands out as the most consistently profitable technique, widely achieving benefit-cost ratios above 5. In parts of the high-potential areas such as the mixed farming, high-oxen-use zones of western Ethiopia, the fertile crescent north of Lake Victoria and the dairy production areas in western and central Kenya, all tsetse control strategies achieve benefit-cost ratios from 2 to over 15, and for elimination strategies, ratios from 5 to over 20. By contrast, in some areas, notably where cattle densities are below 20per km(2), the costs of interventions against tsetse match or even outweigh the benefits, especially for control scenarios using aerial spraying or the deployment of targets where both savannah and riverine flies are present. If the burden of human African trypanosomosis were factored in, the benefit-cost ratios of some of the low-return areas would be considerably increased. Comparatively, elimination strategies give rise to higher benefit-cost ratios than do those for continuous control. However, the costs calculated for elimination assume problem-free, large scale operations, and they rest on the outputs of entomological models that are difficult to validate in the field. Experience indicates that the conditions underlying successful and sustained elimination campaigns are seldom met. By choosing the most appropriate thresholds for benefit-cost ratios, decision-makers and planners can use the maps to define strategies, assist in prioritising areas for intervention, and help choose among intervention techniques and approaches. The methodology would have wider applicability in analysing other disease constraints with a strong spatial component.

Evidence that the positive inotropic effects of the alkylxanthines are not due to adenosine receptor blockade.

We investigated the possibility that the positive inotropic effects of the alkylxanthines are due to adenosine receptor blockade. The potency of 8-phenyltheophylline, theophylline and enprofylline as adenosine antagonists was assessed in vitro, using the guinea-pig isolated atrium, and in vivo, using the anaesthetized dog. The order of potency of the alkylxanthines as antagonists of the negative inotropic response to 2-chloroadenosine in vitro, and of the hypotensive response to adenosine in vivo was 8-phenyltheophylline greater than theophylline greater than enprofylline. The order of potency of the alkylxanthines as positive inotropic and chronotropic agents in the anaesthetized dog was enprofylline greater than theophylline greater than 8-phenyltheophylline. The results of this study indicate that the inotropic effects of the alkylxanthines in the anaesthetized dog are not due to adenosine receptor blockade.

The dependence of activation of platelets by a plasminogen activator on the evolution of thrombin activity.

Both augmentation of thrombin activity and activation of platelets have been reported to accompany administration of plasminogen activators in vivo. To determine whether the platelet activation is a consequence or a cause of the procoagulant effects, we assessed the effects of t-PA on spontaneous activation and aggregation of platelets and on clotting in recalcified human whole blood. Spontaneous activation of platelets occurred in the stirred samples 8.9 +/- 2 minutes (n = 5) after recalcification. Aggregation and clotting followed immediately afterward. Activation, aggregation and clotting were accelerated in a dose-dependent manner by 3 minutes of preincubation with t-PA (2-30 micrograms/ml) before recalcification. The procoagulant effect of t-PA (5 micrograms/ml) was abolished by concomitant incubation with hirudin (0.5 nM) or aprotinin (200 KIU/ml) consistent with the hypothesis of plasmin-mediated evolution of thrombin being responsible for the procoagulant effect. However, platelets could be activated independently by other agonists (collagen, 3 micrograms/ml; and ADP, 25 microM) in the presence of hirudin. Despite the procoagulant effect of t-PA, aggregation to collagen (2-5 micrograms/ml) and PAF (0.9 microM) was diminished in samples incubated with t-PA for 30 minutes (37 degrees C). Fibrinogen degradation products elaborated during this interval (25.6 micrograms/ml; n = 3) were responsible for this anti-aggregatory effect. The results indicate that platelet activation in recalcified whole blood depends on procoagulant effects of t-PA.

The nature of interactions between tissue-type plasminogen activator and platelets.

To elucidate interactions responsible for inhibition of aggregation of platelets in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) harvested from whole blood preincubated with t-PA, experiments were performed with PRP and washed platelets under diverse conditions of preincubation. Both ADP and collagen induced aggregation were inhibited in PRP unless aprotinin had been added to the preincubated whole blood concomitantly with t-PA. However, in washed platelets prepared after the same exposure aggregation was intact. When washed platelets were supplemented with fibrinogen degradation products (FDPs) in concentrations simulating those in whole blood preincubated with t-PA, aggregation induced with either ADP or collagen was inhibited. Thus, the inhibition in PRP depended on generation of FDPs by activated plasminogen. The functional integrity of surface glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptors in washed platelets was documented by autoradiography after SDS-PAGE of surface labeled GPs and by fibrinogen binding despite preincubation of the whole blood or washed platelets themselves with t-PA and plasminogen as long as exogenous calcium (greater than or equal to 0.1 microM) was present. In contrast, when calcium was absent, the platelet GP IIb/IIIa receptor was rendered susceptible to degradation by plasmin, and aggregation was inhibited by preincubation at 37 degrees C even if aprotinin was present when aggregation was being assayed. These observations reconcile disparate results in the literature from studies in vivo and in vitro by demonstrating that inhibition of aggregation of platelets in PRP and in whole blood reflects indirect effects of plasminogen activation rather than direct effects of t-PA or plasmin on the platelets themselves.

The tsetse (Diptera: Glossinidae) story: implications for mosquitoes.

In Zimbabwe, tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) are controlled using insecticide-impregnated baits. About 60,000 targets, baited with a blend of acetone, 1-octen-3-ol, 4-methylphenol, and 3-n-propylphenol, are deployed in tsetse-infested areas. The development of this control technology has been based on an understanding of the responses of tsetse to their hosts, using research tools that quantify single specific responses. this understanding required the development of new research tools, such as electrocuting devices and video techniques to analyze behavioral responses and gas chromatography linked to an electroantennogram to analyze responses of tsetse to components of host odor. The development of bait technology also required close interdisciplinary collaboration among entomologists, chemists, and electrophysiologists. It is suggested that the same approach to analyzing the responses of mosquitoes to their hosts will produce improved baits for mosquitoes. The low reproductive rate of tsetse, their sensitivity to insecticides, and, so far, the absence of insecticidal or behavioral resistance to insecticide-impregnated targets, makes them particularly susceptible to baits. These factors are not all present with other pests, including mosquitoes. Nonetheless, baits offer the prospect of being an important component in an integrated approach to controlling pests of man and his livestock, both as a complementary control technique and as a powerful monitoring tool.

Estimating the costs of tsetse control options: an example for Uganda.

Decision-making and financial planning for tsetse control is complex, with a particularly wide range of choices to be made on location, timing, strategy and methods. This paper presents full cost estimates for eliminating or continuously controlling tsetse in a hypothetical area of 10,000km(2) located in south-eastern Uganda. Four tsetse control techniques were analysed: (i) artificial baits (insecticide-treated traps/targets), (ii) insecticide-treated cattle (ITC), (iii) aerial spraying using the sequential aerosol technique (SAT) and (iv) the addition of the sterile insect technique (SIT) to the insecticide-based methods (i-iii). For the creation of fly-free zones and using a 10% discount rate, the field costs per km(2) came to US$283 for traps (4 traps per km(2)), US$30 for ITC (5 treated cattle per km(2) using restricted application), US$380 for SAT and US$758 for adding SIT. The inclusion of entomological and other preliminary studies plus administrative overheads adds substantially to the overall cost, so that the total costs become US$482 for traps, US$220 for ITC, US$552 for SAT and US$993 - 1365 if SIT is added following suppression using another method. These basic costs would apply to trouble-free operations dealing with isolated tsetse populations. Estimates were also made for non-isolated populations, allowing for a barrier covering 10% of the intervention area, maintained for 3 years. Where traps were used as a barrier, the total cost of elimination increased by between 29% and 57% and for ITC barriers the increase was between 12% and 30%. In the case of continuous tsetse control operations, costs were estimated over a 20-year period and discounted at 10%. Total costs per km(2) came to US$368 for ITC, US$2114 for traps, all deployed continuously, and US$2442 for SAT applied at 3-year intervals. The lower costs compared favourably with the regular treatment of cattle with prophylactic trypanocides (US$3862 per km(2) assuming four doses per annum at 45 cattle per km(2)). Throughout the study, sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the impact on cost estimates of different densities of ITC and traps, costs of baseline studies and discount rates. The present analysis highlights the cost differentials between the different intervention techniques, whilst attesting to the significant progress made over the years in reducing field costs. Results indicate that continuous control activities can be cost-effective in reducing tsetse populations, especially where the creation of fly-free zones is challenging and reinvasion pressure high.

Prospects for the development of odour baits to control the tsetse flies Glossina tachinoides and G. palpalis s.l.

Field studies were done of the responses of Glossina palpalis palpalis in Côte d'Ivoire, and G. p. gambiensis and G. tachinoides in Burkina Faso, to odours from humans, cattle and pigs. Responses were measured either by baiting (1.) biconical traps or (2.) electrocuting black targets with natural host odours. The catch of G. tachinoides from traps was significantly enhanced ( approximately 5x) by odour from cattle but not humans. In contrast, catches from electric targets showed inconsistent results. For G. p. gambiensis both human and cattle odour increased (>2x) the trap catch significantly but not the catch from electric targets. For G. p. palpalis, odours from pigs and humans increased (approximately 5x) the numbers of tsetse attracted to the vicinity of the odour source but had little effect on landing or trap-entry. For G. tachinoides a blend of POCA (P = 3-n-propylphenol; O = 1-octen-3-ol; C = 4-methylphenol; A = acetone) alone or synthetic cattle odour (acetone, 1-octen-3-ol, 4-methylphenol and 3-n-propylphenol with carbon dioxide) consistently caught more tsetse than natural cattle odour. For G. p. gambiensis, POCA consistently increased catches from both traps and targets. For G. p. palpalis, doses of carbon dioxide similar to those produced by a host resulted in similar increases in attraction. Baiting traps with super-normal (approximately 500 mg/h) doses of acetone also consistently produced significant but slight (approximately 1.6x) increases in catches of male flies. The results suggest that odour-baited traps and insecticide-treated targets could assist the AU-Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) in its current efforts to monitor and control Palpalis group tsetse in West Africa. For all three species, only approximately 50% of the flies attracted to the vicinity of the trap were actually caught by it, suggesting that better traps might be developed by an analysis of the visual responses and identification of any semiochemicals involved in short-range interaction.