HC Deb 22 April 1943 vol 388 c1862W
Mr. R. Morgan

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can make any statement on the steps taken to cope with the tsetse fly in Kenya?

Colonel Stanley

The protection of native settlements in Kenya from sleeping sickness by clearance of bush and direct attack onglossina palpalis, has been undertaken hitherto by the Medical Department, and field work and research in the control of fly have been conducted by the Veterinary Department. In the report of the Veterinary Department for 1941 attention has been drawn to a considerable extension of outbreaks of animal trypanosomiasis. As an essential preliminary to reinforcing the activities to which I have referred by comprehensive measures for controlling this extension, for the protection of dispersal zones and the reclamation of infested areas, a survey of the existing fly belts throughout the Colony was commenced in 1942, and will be completed in 1944. In December of last year, I invited the East and West African Governments to review generally the present position with regard to tsetse fly infestation and human and animal trypanosomiasis, and to make recommendations with a view to securing the maximum co-ordinated effort and the pooling of experience among all those concerned in tsetse research and administrative measures throughout British Tropical Africa. The tsetse problem is thus now engaging full attention in its widest aspects.