A voluntary use of insecticide-treated cattle can eliminate African sleeping sickness
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Jan Rychtar, Assistant Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: Winner of the 2015-2016 UNCG University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund Grant. African sleeping sickness is a vector-borne disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Itis transmitted by tsetse flies and one of the most effective strategies to combat the disease is theuse of insecticide-treated cattle (ITC). In this paper, we present a gametheoretical model, inwhich individual farmers choose their own level of ITC in order to maximize their own benefits,effectively balancing the cost of ITC and the risk of their cows contracting the disease. We findthat even when the usage of ITC is strictly voluntary, the optimal ITC usage will eliminate thedisease when the cost of ITC is not prohibitively large. This is in a sharp contrast with similarscenarios of vaccination games where a voluntary vaccination never eliminates a diseaseentirely.
A voluntary use of insecticide-treated cattle can eliminate African sleeping sickness
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Created on 12/14/2015
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Letters in Biomathematics
- Language: English
- Date: 2015
- Keywords
- Game theory, vector control, African sleeping sickness, insecticide