The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, says the Federal Government has approved the construction of a modern tsetse mass rearing facility at Vom, Plateau, to eradicate Trypanosomiasis.
Trypanosomiasis is a sleeping sickness in human and animal, transmitted by insect called tsetse fly.
Onu said this at the opening of the five-day, 35th International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control conference today in Abuja.
The minister said that the measure was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to eradicate tsetse flies and tryponosomiasis disease in Nigeria and Africa as a whole
Onu said that government approved the facility to generate millions of sterile male tsetse flies for field releases for the mop-up population of tsetse fly that might persist after suppression to achieve eradication.
According to him, Nigeria plays important role in the decision of the African Heads of State and Government that endorsed the Pan African Tsetse and Tryponosomiasis Eradication Campaign PATTEC Initiative.
