Page 117 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(1) (2024)

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Figure 1 A sketched image of Catherine wheel trap. Source: PRAAD, Kumase, ARG 1/14/16, Tsetse Traps, 1935)

cultivation was not to be noted as that which Archives of Ghana, Kumase, MAG 1/1/85, Re-
could not be addressed but rather there was the port of Dr. Saunders, 21st October, 1941).
need to learn from the success of green manur-
ing, which was experimented with in Nigeria. The Use of Tsetse Traps
Primarily, the control of trypanosomiasis Bruto da Costa (1916) has argued that the use Indigenous and European Policies and Strategies for Combatting Asante Trypanosomiasis
was to be undertaken with the spraying of the of tsetse traps were among the earliest develop-
vector with insecticides and the defensive clear- ment in eliminating the Human African Tryp-
ing of the vegetation where the vectors reside. anosomiasis. According to da Costa, the histo-
This was under the instruction of the Director of ry of these developments can be traced to 1910
Public Health and the Senior Veterinary Officer. on the island of Principe where the first indica-
On 29 August 1940, the Assistant Director of tion occurred that tsetse flies could be controlled
Medical Service, Kumase, informed the District by the employment of artificial devices. A black
Commissioner of Asante that Dr McPherson, cloth coated with lime carried on the back of a
who had a considerable experience in treating plantation worker served as the first tsetse trap.
trypanosomiasis, would address the urgent need Since this development, many traps have been
for taking preventive measures in Asante against invented. The first was the Harris Trap (Ku-
the spread of the disease (MAG, Kumase, MAG zoe and Scofield 2004). However, these traps
1/1/85, Correspondence between the Assistant were not effective compared to the other strat-
Director of Medical Service, Kumase and the egies put in place by the colonial administra-
District Commissioner, Asante and Manhyia tion. Kuzoe and Scofield (2004) recounted that