River blindness: A success story under threat?

PLoS Medicine

Volumn 3, Issue 9, 2006, Pages 1454-1460

  Basáñez, María Gloria ^a   Pion, Sébastien D S ^a   Churcher, Thomas S ^a   Breitling, Lutz P ^c   Little, Mark P ^b   Boussinesq, Michel ^d  

^a Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology ^*  (United Kingdom)

^b IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS   (United Kingdom)

^d INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT   (France)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ALBENDAZOLE; ANTIBIOTIC AGENT; DOXYCYCLINE; IVERMECTIN; MOXIDECTIN; RETINOL; ANTIPARASITIC AGENT;

CLINICAL FEATURE; CLINICAL PROTOCOL; COMMUNITY CARE; CORNEA OPACITY; COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS; DISEASE COURSE; DRUG EFFICACY; DRUG RESPONSE; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH PROGRAM; HIGH RISK POPULATION; HOST PARASITE INTERACTION; HUMAN; IMMUNE RESPONSE; INFECTION CONTROL; MORBIDITY; NONHUMAN; ONCHOCERCA VOLVULUS; ONCHOCERCIASIS; PARASITE SURVIVAL; PARASITE TRANSMISSION; PATHOGENESIS; REVIEW; SOCIOECONOMICS; SYMPTOM; AFRICA; ARTICLE; COST OF ILLNESS; DEVELOPING COUNTRY; HEALTH; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; STATISTICS;

AFRICA; ANTIPARASITIC AGENTS; COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES; COST OF ILLNESS; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; HEALTH CARE COSTS; HUMANS; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; IVERMECTIN; ONCHOCERCIASIS, OCULAR; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; WORLD HEALTH;

EID: 33749006622     PISSN: 15491277     EISSN: 15491676     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030371     Document Type: Review

References (76)

1. Harlem Brundtland G (2002) Onchocerciasis Control Programme closure ceremony [speech]. Available: http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2002/Ouagadougou/ en. Accessed 14 August 2006.
2. Hopkins AD (2005) Ivermectin and onchocerciasis: Is it all solved? Eye 19: 1057-1066.
3. Crosskey RW (1990) The natural history of blackflies. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. 711 p.
4. Crosskey RW, Howard TM (2004) A revised taxonomic and geographical inventory of world blackflies (Diptera : Simuliidae). London: The Natural History Museum. Available: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/ blackflies. Accessed 24 April 2006.
5. Bradley JE, Whitworth J, Basáñez M-G (2005) Onchocerciasis. In: Cox FEG, Wakelin D, Gillespie SH, Despommier DD. Parasitology, Topley and Wilson's microbiology and microbial infections. 10th edition. London: Hodder Arnold. pp. 781-801.
6. World Health Organization (2005) Onchocerciasis (river blindness). Weekly epidemiological record 80: 257-260. Available: http://www.who.int/wer/2005/ wer8030.pdf. Accessed 26 July 2006.
7. World Health Organization (1995) Onchocerciasis and its control. Report of a WHO expert committee on onchocerciasis control. WHO Technical Report Series, number 852. Geneva: World Health Organization. 110 p.
8. Ngoumou P, Walsh JF, Macé JM (1994) A rapid mapping technique for the prevalence and distribution of onchocerciasis: A Cameroon case study. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 88: 463-474.
9. African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control [APOC] (2005) Final communiqué of the 11th session of the Joint Action Forum (JAF) of APOC, Paris, France, 6-9 December 2005. Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso): APOC.
10. Little MP, Basáñez M-G, Breitling LP, Boatin BA, Alley ES (2004) Incidence of blindness during the entire duration of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in western Africa, 1971-2002. J Infect Dis 189: 1932-1941.
11. Hall LR, Pearlman E (1999) Pathogenesis of onchocercal keratitis (river blindness). Clin Microbiol Rev 12: 445-453.
12. Saint-André A, Blackwell NM, Hall LR, Hoerauf A, Brattig NW, et al. (2002) The role of endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria in the pathogenesis of river blindness. Science 295: 1892-1895.
13. Brattig NW (2004) Pathogenesis and host responses in human onchocerciasis: Impact of Onchocerca filariae and Wolbachia endobacteria. Microbes Infect 6: 113-128.
14. McKechnie NM, Gürr W, Yamada H, Copland D, Braun G (2002) Antigenic mimicry: Onchocerca volvulus antigen-specific T cells and ocular inflammation. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 43: 411-418.
15. Murdoch ME, Hay RJ, Mackenzie CD, Williams JF, Ghalib HW, et al. (1993) A clinical classification and grading system of the cutaneous changes in onchocerciasis. Br J Dermatol 129: 260-269.
16. Pearlman E, Garhart CA, Grand DJ, Diaconu E, Strine ER, et al. (1999) Temporal recruitment of neutrophils and eosinophils to the skin in a murine model for onchocercal dermatitis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 61: 14-18.
17. Hoerauf A, Brattig N (2002) Resistance and susceptibility in human onchocerciasis - Beyond Th1 vs. Th2. Trends Parasitol 18: 25-31.
18. Ali MM, Baraka OZ, AbdelRahman SI, Sulaiman SM, Williams JF, et al. (2003) Immune responses directed against microfilariae correlate with severity of clinical onchodermatitis and treatment history. J Infect Dis 187: 714-717.
19. Meyer CG, Gallin M, Erttmann KD, Brattig N, Schnittger L, et al. (1994) HLA-D alleles associated with generalized disease, localized disease, and putative immunity in Onchocerca volvulus infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91: 7515-7519.
20. Boussinesq M, Pion SD, Demanga-Ngangue, Kamgno J (2002) Relationship between onchocerciasis and epilepsy: A matched case-control study in the Mbam Valley, Republic of Cameroon. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 96: 537-541.
21. Kipp W, Burnham G, Bamuhiiga J, Leichsenring M (1996) The Nakalanga syndrome in Kabarole district, Western Uganda. Am J Trop Med Hyg 54: 80-83.
22. Little MP, Breitling LP, Basáñez M-G, Alley ES, Boatin BA (2004) Association between microfilarial load and excess mortality in human onchocerciasis: An epidemiological study. Lancet 363: 1514-1521.
23. Filipe JA, Boussinesq M, Renz A, Collins RC, Vivas-Martinez S, et al. (2005) Human infection patterns and heterogeneous exposure in river blindness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102: 15265-15270.
24. Duerr HP, Dietz K, Schulz-Key H, Büttner DW, Eichner M (2003) Density-dependent parasite establishment suggests infection-associated immunosuppression as an important mechanism for parasite density regulation in onchocerciasis. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 97: 242-250.
25. Duke BO, Lewis DJ, Moore PJ (1966) Onchocerca-Simulium complexes. I. Transmission of forest and Sudan-savanna strains of Onchocerca volvulus, from Cameroon, by Simulium damnosum from various West African bioclimatic zones. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 60: 318-336.
26. Zimmerman PA, Dadzie KY, De Sole G, Remme J, Alley ES, et al. (1992) Onchocerca volvulus DNA probe classification correlates with epidemiologic patterns of blindness. J Infect Dis 165: 964-968.
27. Dadzie KY, Remme J, Rolland A, Thylefors B (1989) Ocular onchocerciasis and intensity of infection in the community. II. West African rainforest foci of the vector Simulium yahense. Trop Med Parasitol 40: 348-354.
28. Kayembe DL, Kasonga D L, Kayembe PK, Mwanza JC, Boussinesq M (2003) Profile of eye lesions and vision loss: A cross-sectional study in Lusambo, a forest-savanna area hyperendemic for onchocerciasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trop Med Int Health 8: 83-89.
29. Fischer P, Bamuhiiga J, Kilian AH, Büttner DW (1996) Strain differentiation of Onchocerca volvulus from Uganda using DNA probes. Parasitology 112: 401-408.
30. Higazi TB, Katholi CR, Mahmoud BM, Baraka OZ, Mukhtar MM, et al. (2001) Onchocerca volvulus: Genetic diversity of parasite isolates from Sudan. Exp Parasitol 97: 24-34.
31. Higazi TB, Filiano A, Katholi CR, Dadzie Y, Remme JH, et al. (2005) Wolbachia endosymbiont levels in severe and mild strains of Onchocerca volvulus. Mol Biochem Parasitol 141: 109-112.
32. Prost A (1986) The burden of blindness in adult males in the savanna villages of West Africa exposed to onchocerciasis. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 80: 525-527.
33. Pion SD, Kamgno J, Demanga-Ngangue, Boussinesq M (2002) Excess mortality associated with blindness in the onchocerciasis focus of the Mbam Valley, Cameroon. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 96: 181-189.
34. Stewart GR, Boussinesq M, Coulson T, Elson L, Nutman T, et al. (1999) Onchocerciasis modulates the immune response to mycobacterial antigens. Clin Exp Immunol 117: 517-523.
35. Cooper PJ, Espinel I, Paredes W, Guderian RH, Nutman TB (1998) Impaired tetanus-specific cellular and humoral responses following tetanus vaccination in human onchocerciasis: A probable role for interleukin-10. J Infect Dis 178: 1133-1138.
36. Vlassoff C, Weiss M, Ovuga EB, Eneanya C, Newel PT, et al. (2000) Gender and the stigma of onchocercal skin disease in Africa. Soc Sci Med 50: 1353-1368.
37. Remme JH (2004) Research for control: The onchocerciasis experience. Trop Med Int Health 9: 243-254.
38. Oladepo O, Brieger WR, Otusanya S, Kale OO, Offiong S, et al. (1997) Farm land size and onchocerciasis status of peasant farmers in south-western Nigeria. Trop Med Int Health 2: 334-340.
39. Evans TG (1995) Socioeconomic consequences of blinding onchocerciasis. Bull World Health Organ 73: 495-506.
40. Hervouët JP, Prost A (1979) Organisation de l'espace et épidémiologie de l'onchocercose. In: Maîtrise de l'espace agraire et développement en Afrique tropicale. Mémoires ORSTOM, number 89. Paris: ORSTOM. pp. 179-190.
41. Benton B (1998) Economic impact of onchocerciasis control through the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control: An overview. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 92 (Suppl): S33-S39.
42. Waters HR, Rehwinkel JA, Burnham G (2004) Economic evaluation of Mectizan distribution. Trop Med Int Health 9 (Suppl): A16-A25.
43. Hougard JM, Alley ES, Yaméogo L, Dadzie KY, Boatin BA (2001) Eliminating onchocerciasis after 14 years of vector control: A proved strategy. J Infect Dis 184: 497-503.
44. Ba O, Karam M, Remme J, Zerbo G (1987) Place des enfants dans l'évaluation du programme de lutte contre l'onchocercose en Afrique de l'ouest [Role of children in the evaluation of the Onchocerciasis Control Program in West Africa]. Trop Med Parasitol 38: 137-142.
45. Molyneux DH (1995) Onchocerciasis control in West Africa: Current status and future of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme. Parasitol Today 11: 399-402.
46. Ejere H, Schwartz E, Wormald R (2001) Ivermectin for onchocercal eye disease (river blindness). Cochrane Database Syst Review: 2001: CD002219.
47. Tielsch JM, Beeche A (2004) Impact of ivermectin on illness and disability associated with onchocerciasis. Trop Med Int Health 9 (Suppl): A45-A56.
48. Boussinesq M, Prod'hon J, Chippaux JP (1997) Onchocerca volvulus: Striking decrease in transmission in the Vina valley (Cameroon) after eight annual large scale ivermectin treatments. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 91: 82-86.
49. Collins RC, Gonzalez-Peralta C, Castro J, Zea-Flores G, Cupp MS, et al. (1992) Ivermectin: Reduction in prevalence and infection intensity of Onchocerca volvulus following biannual treatments in five Guatemalan communities. Am J Trop Med Hyg 47: 156-169.
50. Borsboom GJ, Boatin BA, Nagelkerke NJ, Agoua H, Akpoboua KL, et al. (2003) Impact of ivermectin on onchocerciasis transmission: Assessing the empirical evidence that repeated ivermectin mass treatments may lead to elimination/eradication in West Africa. Filaria J 2: 8.
51. Winnen M, Plaisier AP, Alley ES, Nagelkerke NJ, van Oortmarssen G, et al. (2002) Can ivermectin mass treatments eliminate onchocerciasis in Africa? Bull World Health Organ 80: 384-390.
52. Ochoa JO, Castro JC, Barrios VM, Juarez EL, Tada I (1997) Successful control of onchocerciasis vectors in San Vicente Pacaya, Guatemala, 1984-1989. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 91: 471-479.
53. Richards FO, Boatin B, Sauerbrey M, Sékétéli A (2004) Control of onchocerciasis today: Status and challenges. Trends Parasitol 17: 558-563.
54. Cupp EW, Ochoa JO, Collins RC, Cupp MS, Gonzalez-Peralta C, et al. (1992) The effects of repetitive community-wide ivermectin treatment on transmission of Onchocerca volvulus in Guatemala. Am J Trop Med Hyg 47: 170-180.
55. Duke BO, Zea-Flores G, Castro J, Cupp EW, Muñoz B (1991) Comparison of the effects of a single dose and of four six monthly doses of ivermectin on adult Onchocerca volvulus. Am J Trop Med Hyg 45: 132-137.
56. Remme JHF (1995) The African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control: Preparing to launch. Parasitol Today 11: 403-406.
57. Amazigo UV, Obono OM, Dadzie KY, Remme J, Jiya J, et al. (2002) Monitoring community-directed treatment programmes for sustainability: Lessons from the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC). Ann Trop Med Parasitol 96 (Suppl 1): S75-S92.
58. Molyneux DH (2005) Onchocerciasis control and elimination: Coming of age in resource-constrained health systems. Trends Parasitol 21: 525-529.
59. Gardon J, Gardon-Wendel N, Demanga-Ngangue, Kamgno J, Chippaux JP, et al. (1997) Serious reactions after mass treatment of onchocerciasis with ivermectin in an area endemic for Loa loa infection. Lancet 350: 18-22.
60. Thomson MC, Obsomer V, Kamgno J, Gardon J, Wanji S, et al. (2004) Mapping the distribution of Loa loa in Cameroon in support of the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control. Filaria J 3: 7.
61. African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control [APOC] (2005) External evaluation report. Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso): APOC.
62. Cook JA, Steel C, Ottesen EA (2001) Towards a vaccine for onchocerciasis. Trends Parasitol 17: 555-558.
63. Cotreau MM, Warren S, Ryan JL, Fleckenstein L, Vanapalli SR, et al. (2003) The antiparasitic moxidectin: Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics in humans. J Clin Pharmacol 43: 1108-1115.
64. Trees AJ, Graham SP, Renz A, Bianco AE, Tanya V (2000) Onchocerca ochengi infections in cattle as a model for human onchocerciasis: Recent developments. Parasitology 120 (Suppl): S133-S142.
65. Gilbert J, Nfon CK, Makepeace BL, Njongmeta LM, Hastings IM, et al. (2005) Antibiotic chemotherapy of onchocerciasis: In a bovine model, killing of adult parasites requires a sustained depletion of endosymbiotic bacteria (Wolbachia species). J Infect Dis 192: 1483-1493.
66. Hoerauf A, Büttner DW, Adjei O, Pearlman E (2003) Onchocerciasis. BMJ 326: 207-210.
67. Taylor MJ, Hoerauf A (2001) A new approach to the treatment of filariasis. Curr Opin Infect Dis 14: 727-731.
68. Awadzi K, Boakye DA, Edwards G, Opoku NO, Attah SK, et al. (2004) An investigation of persistent microfilaridermias despite multiple treatments with ivermectin, in two onchocerciasis-endemic foci in Ghana. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 98: 231-249.
69. Eng JK, Prichard RK (2005) A comparison of genetic polymorphism in populations of Onchocerca volvulus from untreated- and ivermectin-treated patients. Mol Biochem Parasitol 142: 193-202.
70. Churcher TS, Ferguson NM, Basáñez M-G (2005) Density dependence and overdispersion in the transmission of helminth parasites. Parasitology 131: 121-132.
71. Duerr HP, Dietz K, Eichner M (2005) Determinants of the eradicability of filarial infections: A conceptual approach. Trends Parasitol 21: 88-96.
72. Habbema JD, Alley ES, Plaisier AP, van Oortmarssen GJ, Remme JH (1992) Epidemiological modelling for onchocerciasis control. Parasitol Today 8: 99-103.
73. Basáñez M-G, Ricárdez-Esquinca J (2001) Models for the population biology and control of human onchocerciasis. Trends Parasitol 17: 430-438.
74. Dadzie Y, Neira M, Hopkins D (2003) Final report of the Conference on the Eradicability of Onchocerciasis. Filaria J 2: 2.
75. African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (2004) Year 2004 Progress Report of WHO/APOC. Available: http://www.apoc.bf/en/download.htm. Accessed 12 January 2006.
76. World Health Organization/African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (2002) Onchocerciasis control in special intervention zones including Sierra Leone in the OCP area. Joint Programme Committee Report, September 2002. Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso): World Health Organization/African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control.