The development and use of geographic information systems to assist trypanosomiasis control in Uganda

Teddy Nakato, Obafemi Awolowo University
Victor Olaleye, Obafemi Awolowo University
Helen Nakimbugwe, NAGRC&DB, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Entebbe, Uganda

The study shows how remotely sensed and environmental data could be combined in a decision support system to help in forming tsetse control programmes. A relationship assessment was used to describe both the links between land cover and radiation recorded by a remotely sensed image and the links between land cover and the disease carried by the tsetse vectors. The study demonstrates the ability of GIS analysis to assess the relationship between tsetse fly distribution and cattle density and determine the strength of the link between tsetse and agricultural production relative to other factors that might influence land-use (human population). The study demonstrated the capacity of geographic information systems to make significant contributions to country-level analyses of factors affecting tsetse distribution, human population density and land-use intensity. Such analyses will play important roles in the process of resource allocation to improved food production in Uganda through more effective disease control.