Eliminating onchocerciasis after 14 years of vector control: a proved strategy

From 1976 through 1989, weekly aerial spraying operations against blackflies were carried out along the rivers of a wide savanna area of West Africa (approximately 700,000 km(2)) where onchocerciasis was hyperendemic. The level of endemicity began to decrease significantly after 4 years of vector control and became very low in 1989. This situation has been maintained without any vector control activity or chemotherapy, and no incidence of any new cases has been detected. An ophthalmological study carried out in 2000 has confirmed these good results, showing only cicatricial ocular lesions in the examined population. These results led to the conclusion that 14 years of vector control may achieve long-term elimination of onchocerciasis, even in the absence of chemotherapy, provided that the treated areas are not subjected to any contamination by exogenous parasites carried in infected humans or flies.