[Modification of the behavior of Glossina palpalis palpalis linked to the swine fever epizootic of 1982 in a Congolese village].

A swine fever epizootic decimated the pig herds in villages within the Yamba focus of human trypanosomiasis. Ecological studies of Glossina palpalis palpalis populations were carried out in one of the villages for four years following the disappearance of the pigs, which had been the principal nutritive host of the Glossina in the area. One important behavioural modification occurred, namely the establishment of a small peridomestic tsetse population. The flies deserted the patches of residual forest to settle around the periphery of the village. This probably occurred in numerous other villages where the epizootic had destroyed the herds of pigs. The modified behaviour has increased the man-fly contact, but, on the other hand, facilitates vector control.