Ratovonjato J., Randriambelosoa J., Robert Vincent
Source
Revue de Médecine Vétérinaire, 2008,
159 (11), p. 551-556 ISSN 0035-1555
Tungose is endemic in Madagascar, Tunga penetrans, "parasy lafrika" in malagasy is the one flea species of the genus, found and the single cause of this disease in the country. On 1895, tungose was introduced front the African continent to the island by port ways. On 1899, this disease touched massively the population of the capital, Antananarivo. Then. the infection propagated progressively and it became endemic in the large part of the anthropic area of the Country. Recently. the Malagasy government created a commitment to fight against the tungose: indoor and outdoor insecticides spraying were used in all area with it high prevalence of the infection but the effectiveness of these methods remains to be estimated. Except the knowledge of the behavior of the adult female of T. penetrans, its bioecology is unknown and its socioeconomic impacts are under estimated in Madagascar. Limited investigation on the collection methods of this flea species were conducted and the results showed the effectiveness of the "pieges bougies" (traps with candle) and the "pieges Estrade" (trap with dust collection). These results could contribute to a better Understanding of the ecology, the biology and the methods to fighting against this disease in Madagascar. This paper exposes a synthesis of the knowledge on the T penetrans in Madagascar, an original data on the tungose in the district of Moramanga (on the eastern fringe of the Malagasy highlands), the amount of the municipalities touched by the tungose on 2002 in 111 districts of Madagascar and finally, the paper proposes some research perspectives.
