Filariasis News and Research

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Filariasis (Philariasis) is a parasitic and infectious tropical disease, that is caused by thread-like filarial nematode worms in the superfamily Filarioidea, also known as "filariae". There are 9 known filarial nematodes which use humans as the definitive host.

PAHO and The Carter Center join hands on the elimination of onchocerciasis across the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and The Carter Center signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement today to strengthen collaboration on the elimination of onchocerciasis — also known as river blindness — and other communicable diseases in the Americas.

21 May 2026

WHO launches guide to address mental health and stigma for people living with NTDs

Marking World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that millions of people living with NTDs continue to face profound and often unseen suffering due to discrimination, social stigma and untreated mental health conditions.

30 Jan 2026

Ending human bait practices in river blindness monitoring

New research shows that it's possible to end the practice of using people as 'human bait' to catch and test the blackflies that spread river blindness (onchocerciasis).

13 Nov 2025

Egypt achieves milestone in eliminating trachoma as a public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that Egypt has successfully eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, marking a historic public health milestone for the country and WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO EMR). It is the seventh country in WHO EMR to achieve this milestone.

12 Nov 2025

Ivermectin mass treatment shows great promise in reducing malaria transmission

Ivermectin administered to the whole population significantly reduces malaria transmission, offering new hope in the fight against the disease.

24 Jul 2025

Burundi eliminates trachoma and sets example for disease control in Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Burundi as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the eighth country in WHO's African Region to reach this important milestone.

11 Jul 2025

Anti-parasitic drug could accelerate the elimination of infection endemic to Africa

Tens of millions of people in Africa are infected by parasitic worms that cause lymphatic filariasis (also called elephantiasis), a disease that leads to severe swelling and deformities of the limbs and genitals.

7 May 2025

Niger becomes first African country to eliminate onchocerciasis

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Niger for having met the criteria for onchocerciasis elimination, making it the fifth country globally and the first country in Africa to be acknowledged by WHO for interrupting transmission of the parasite Onchocerca volvulus.

31 Jan 2025

Brazil achieves milestone in eliminating lymphatic filariasis

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Brazil for having eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem.

1 Oct 2024

WHO's new SkinNTD app proves effective in training healthcare workers for neglected tropical diseases

The SkinNTD app, developed by the WHO, shows promise in training frontline healthcare workers in low- and middle-income countries to diagnose and manage neglected tropical diseases. Early evaluations in Ghana and Kenya indicate the app is user-friendly, effective, and valuable for remote areas.

20 May 2024

New collaboration to combat river blindness and lymphatic filariasis

Prof. Achim Hoerauf, Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), and his team have succeeded in collaborating with the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy at the University of Bonn and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), to enter into a partnership with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai for the further development of the antibiotic corallopyronin A (CorA) as a treatment for the neglected tropical diseases river blindness and lymphatic filariasis and to raise a large amount of funding.

10 May 2024

Drug Discovery 2023: A Conversation with Professor Janet Hemingway

We spoke to Professor Janet Hemingway, founding Director of iiCON and Professor of Tropical Medicine at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

From ELRIG (UK) Ltd. 9 Oct 2023

University Hospital Bonn coordinates eWHORM project to combat worm infections in sub-Saharan Africa

African and European partners join forces to enable the World Health Organisation's (WHO) "Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases" (NTDs) and reduce the burden of disease associated with worm infections.

11 Apr 2023

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change

The adverse effects of climate change have impacted numerous areas of human health and well-being. In most parts of the world, women are least able to mitigate such changes, so they are an appropriate focus in a recent research paper.

19 Feb 2023

Modulation of insect immunity to control vector-borne diseases

Discussed the current research on the role of molecular mechanisms in mediating immune priming in insects and regulating vector-borne disease transmission.

19 Dec 2022

Q&A: COVID-19 pandemic has widened gender inequities in health

Health inequalities facing women and girls, already stark before the onset of COVID-19, have widened glaringly during the pandemic. Lockdowns restricted access to sexual and reproductive health services, increased violence against women, and interrupted girls’ education.

9 May 2022