The icipe Animal Health Theme focuses on development of integrated strategies and tools for control of vectors of animal diseases to enhance livestock health and productivity and welfare of livestock keepers. Research activities are geared towards detailed understanding of vector behaviour, population ecology and vector–host and vector–parasite interactions.
The Centre has primarily conducted studies on tsetse flies (vectors of animal and human trypanosomosis), and ticks (which among others transmit East Coast fever). Some of the technologies developed include icipe’s tsetse traps whose efficacy is enhanced by odour baits, biological control and use of repellents.
In the case of ticks, icipe is developing strategies for managing these vectors on smallholder farming systems with approaches which rely on biological control, use of botanicals and anti-tick pasture plants, repellents and behaviour modification of ticks using semiochemicals that they use to find hosts and mates.
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