background: skin lesions of filarial worms are usually common in livestock. in camels, the most reported species is onchocerca fasciata, which involves subcutaneous connective tissue and the nuchal ligament. objectives: the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and pathology of camel onchocerciasis in iran’s central desert. methods: carcasses of 144 dromedary camels of both sexes ...

BACKGROUND: Individuals with high microfilarial loads of Loa loa are at increased risk of neurologic serious adverse (SAE) events following ivermectin treatment against onchocerciasis. RAPLOA (Rapid Assessment Procedure for loiasis), a newly developed rapid assessment procedure for loiasis that relates the prevalence of key clinical manifestation of loiasis (history of eye worm) to the level of...

BACKGROUND An increased prevalence of epilepsy has been reported in many onchocerciasis endemic areas. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of epilepsy in onchocerciasis endemic areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and investigate whether a higher annual intake of Ivermectin was associated with a lower prevalence of epilepsy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDING...

Human onchocerciasis (river blindness) occurs in 13 foci distributed among six countries in Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela), where about 500,000 people are considered at risk. An effort to eliminate the disease from the region was launched in response to a specific resolution adopted by the PanAmerican Health Organization (PAHO) in 1991: to eliminate o...

The African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) was launched in 1995 with the main goal being to boost the fight against onchocerciasis in Africa. In 2011, over 80 million people benefited from this intervention thanks to the contribution of 268.718 Community-Directed Distributors (CDD). These significant results obscure the role of women CDD in this fight. Indeed, the insufficient involv...

INTRODUCTION Onchocerciasis or river blindness constitutes a major burden to households especially in resource-poor settings, causing a significant reduction in household productivity. There has been renewed interest from policy makers to reduce the burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) such as onchocerciasis on individuals and households. This paper provides new information on the patie...

The Mectizan Donation Program (MDP) was established in 1987 to oversee Merck’s donation of Mectizan (ivermectin, MSD) for the control of onchocerciasis (river blindness) worldwide [1]. This was accelerated and expanded when Merck made a groundbreaking announcement in 1987: it would donate ivermectin, completely free of charge, as much as needed and for as long as needed, for the elimination of ...

Factors that affect the propensity of a simuliid species to act as a host to Onchocerca volvulus and to naturally transmit this filarial worm in nature are discussed. Presence or absence of a cibarial armature is believed to be a major factor that has been previously overlooked and this is considered in relation to the choice of control methods currently advocated for onchocerciasis. The curren...