Research indicates that there is still a place for that much maligned pesticide DDT, in controlling the Tse-tse fly, a vector in the debilitating disease trypanosomiasis -- the dreaded sleeping sickness.
Scientists from Britain's Natural Resources Institute, who studied the impact of DDT in Zimbabwe, found that the pesticide had a severe impact on a largescale on 4 bird species, particularly the blackchat and the wood-hoopoe, and 1 lizard species. It was found to have little effect on fish and on soil fertility.
Sleeping sickness leads to a drop in energy and a gradual wasting away and even death, if left untreated. It has the same effect on livestock and is particularly severe in cattle.