A multidisciplinary work was undertaken in the agropastoral zone of Sidéradougou, Burkina Faso to try to elucidate the key factors determining the presence of tsetse flies. In this study the PCR was used to characterize trypanosomes infecting the vector (Glossina tachinoides and Glossina palpalis gambiensis) and the host, i.e. cattle. A 2-year survey involved dissecting 2211 tsetse of the two Glossina species. A total of 298 parasitologically infected tsetse were analysed by PCR. Trypanosoma vivax was the most frequently identified trypanosome followed by the savannah type of T. congolense and, to a lesser extent, the riverine forest type of T. congolense, and by T. brucei. No cases of T simiae were found. From the 107 identified infections in cattle, the taxa were the same, but T congolense Savannah type was more frequent, whereas T. vivax and T. congolense riverine forest types were found less frequently. A correlation was found between midgut infection rates of tsetse, nonidentified infections and reptile bloodmeals. These rates were higher in G.p. gambiensis, and in the western part of the study area. T. vivax infections were related to cattle bloodmeals, and were more frequent in G. tachinoides and in the eastern study area.The PCR results combined with bloodmeal analysis helped us to establish the relationships between the vector and the host, to assess the trypanosome challenge in the two parts of the area, to elucidate the differences between the two types of T : congolense, and to suspect that most midgut infections were originating from reptilian trypanosomes.