This report reviews information on Serious Adverse Events (SAE), mainly Loa-encephalopathy, following treatment with ivermectin (Mectizan®, Merck, Sharpe & Dohme) for control of onchocerciasis carried out by the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), in areas where heavy microfilarial infections with Loa loa are coendemic with Onchocerca volvulus infections. It also endeavours to ...

Onchocerciasis, or River Blindness as it is commonly called, has been found to be endemic in the Imo River basin of Imo and Abia States, all in the Southeastern part of Nigeria [1,2]. Auchinumo is a community of 16 villages situated along the Imo River basin in the Ihitte-Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State. The people live in somewhat isolated settlements and are predominantly farmers. Am...

Zoonotic onchocerciasis of the shoulder: A case report.

Eighteen patients, moderately to heavily infected with onchocerciasis, were treated with a standard course of diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC-C). In addition to the well recognised systemic reactions to treatment, the following ocular changes occurred during therapy: (1) Transient pigment epithelial lesions were detected in 7 patients by fluorescein angiography. (2) Optic disc leakage, as shown...

BACKGROUND Onchocerciasis in Yemen is one of the most neglected diseases, where baseline estimates of onchocerciasis and monitoring of the impact of ivermectin regularly administered to the affected individuals on its transmission are lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the anti-Ov16 IgG4 seroprevalence among local communities of Hodeidah and Al-Mahwit governorates of Tihama regio...

BACKGROUND Mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin has become the main intervention to control onchocerciasis or "river blindness". In Togo, after many years of MDA, Onchocerca volvulus infection has declined dramatically, and elimination appears achievable, but in certain river basins the current situation remains unknown. We have conducted parasitological, serological, ophthalmological, ...

BACKGROUND Elimination of onchocerciasis (river blindness) through mass administration of ivermectin in the six countries in Latin America where it is endemic is considered feasible due to the relatively small size and geographic isolation of endemic foci. We evaluated whether transmission of onchocerciasis has been interrupted in the endemic focus of Escuintla-Guatemala in Guatemala, based on ...

BACKGROUND Loiasis is currently receiving attention as a disease of public health importance because of the possibility of increased risk of developing neurologic serious adverse event following mass ivermectin treatment against onchocerciasis in individual co-infected with Onchocerca volvulus and Loa loa. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Rapid assessment procedure for loiasis (RAPLOA) was cond...

Onchocerciasis is a parasitic, vector borne disease caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. More than 99% of the population at risk of infection live in Africa. Onchocerciasis control was initiated in West Africa in 1974 with vector control, later complemented by ivermectin mass drug administration and in the other African endemic countries in 1995 with annual community directed tr...

In 1915 Dr. R. Robles became the first to record American onchocerciasis from Guatemala, where it is accordingly called “Robles’ Disease”. He assumed that the vectors would prove to be blackflies and recommended that nodulectomy would be the effective treatment. Since his discovery, both original research and experimental trials concerning treatment and control measures have been carried out in...