Tsetse fly host: buffalo

Wild animals: buffalo A Cape buffalo (Synceros caffer) standing on grassy land in front of a wooded area. Many different species of tsetse fly feed on buffalo, particularly the morsitans group. These animals are therefore at high risk of contracting African trypanosomiasis. However, infected buffalo are thought to show no signs of the disease (ie. are trypanotolerant) and supress trypanosome parasitaemia. They are therefore unlikely to act as reservoir hosts. Their importance to human African trypanosomiasis is that they help sustain tsetse fly populations. Buffalo urine has been used to attract Glossina pallidipes to traps used in surveys and control.