Tsetse flies, common is Sub-Saharan africa, are carriers of trypanosomes, which cause African trypanosomiasis, a fatal disease also called human sleeping sickness, as well as considerable economoc loss on livestock production in Africa. While there are a few medications available to treat the disease, a lot of cases in Africa remain unreported and untreated due to lack of infrastructure. As indicated in the Tsetse.org website, preventive measures include setting up and baits and use of insecticides, but these raise socio-economic as well as environmental concerns.

Scientists from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine may be on to something: Living symbiotically with the Tsetse fly is Sodalis, a bacterium that lives which is also of particular interest because of its resemblance to other bacteria causing common illnesses disease in humans. By analyzing the Sodalis genome, these scientists were able to identify clues as to what makes Sodalis transform form a free-living microbe to a symbiotic partner to tsetse.

"If we get rid of these symbiotic bacteria, the flies become sterile, so understanding what they provide to the flies is very important from a vector control point of view," Aksoy said. "The sequence will be extremely helpful and will expand functional studies. We have increased understanding of how Sodalis transitions from a free-living to a symbiotic state."

Hopefully, this is the start of a sustainable solution to trypanosomiasis.

Source: Yale University OPA