The epidemiology of onchocerciasis in Northwestern Ethiopia

The prevalence of onchocerciasis has been investigated by means of quantitative skin snips for the first time in Northwestern Ethiopia. One thousand three hundred and seventy people (10%) of the population of five villages near the Sudan border were surveyed. There were 267 microfilaria carriers (19.5%) and 21 (1.5%) nodule carriers. The mean number of microfilariae per infected person was 3.6 mf/mg of skin. The infection rate in men was about three times that for women. The extent of this focus needs to be delineated.