Onchocerciasis, malaria and trypanosomiasis in three resettlement schemes in western Ethiopia

Epidemiological studies were carried out among 180 randomly chosen settler and 180 non-settler households in the three resettlement schemes of Kishe, Gera and Didessa located in river valleys and highland areas of Illubabor Administrative Region in western Ethiopia. Up to 49% of the indigenous populations (in Kishe) and 0.9% of the settlers had onchocerciasis, with a mean density of 13.6 filariae per slide/skin snip for indigenous people and 9.4 for settlers. Onchocerciasis prevalence rates were higher in males than females and were highest in the 20-59 age group. In the Kishe scheme, rates were inversely related to distance between residences and probable forest/stream habitat of Simulium damnosum. No onchocerciasis transmission appears to occur in the Gera scheme at 1,950 meters altitude, apparently due to the absence of suitable vectors. Eight of 622 (1.2%) persons had malaria (P. vivax and P. falciparum). The most common man-biting anophelines were A. gambiae and A. funestus. No human trypanosomiasis cases were found but high livestock mortality was reported by local populations in the lowland schemes of Kishe and Didessa.