Onchocerciasis News and Research

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Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus. It is transmitted through the bites of infected blackflies of Simulium species, which carry immature larval forms of the parasite from human to human. In the human body, the larvae form nodules in the subcutaneous tissue, where they mature to adult worms. After mating, the female adult worm can release up to 1000 microfilariae a day. These move through the body, and when they die they cause a variety of conditions, including blindness, skin rashes, lesions, intense itching and skin depigmentation. Onchocerciasis is endemic in more than 25 nations located in a broad band across the central part of Africa. Small endemic foci are also present in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen) and in the Americas (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, southern Mexico, and Venezuela).

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

Ivermectin is ineffective in non-severe COVID-19 patients according to new study

A new study evaluated the effect of ivermectin on time to recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with mild to moderate disease.

25 Oct 2022

USF technology identifies locations of mosquitoes and helps eradicate malaria

Following his success eradicating a major source of malaria, technology created by a University of South Florida public health researcher is being implemented by insect control agencies throughout Africa and across the Tampa Bay region.

10 May 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

New drug targeting LF and onchocerciasis begins its first in human trial in Liverpool

A new drug developed by an LSTM led partnership, which targets the neglected tropical diseases lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis has begun its first in human trial.

6 Jan 2022

Researchers receive NIH grants to develop new treatments for neglected tropical diseases

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received two grants from the National Institutes of Health totaling more than $5.5 million to develop new treatments for two types of devastating parasitic infections common in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America: river blindness and intestinal worm infections.

22 Dec 2021

WHO and Sanofi sign new agreement to sustain specific efforts to eliminate NTDs

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Sanofi – one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies – have signed a new agreement for donations of medicines to sustain specific efforts to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

16 Dec 2021

Researchers examine whether community administration of ivermectin influences malaria transmission

Researchers from the LSTM based Cochrane Infectious Disease Group explored whether community administration of ivermectin influences malaria transmission.

29 Jun 2021

New evidence supports ivermectin use in children weighing less than fifteen kilograms

Millions of children weighing less than 15kg are currently denied access to Ivermectin treatment due to insufficient safety data being available to support a change to the current label indication.

18 Mar 2021

Could Ivermectin be an effective antiviral against SARS-CoV-2?

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial has recently demonstrated that Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, can reduce in-hospital mortality rate of COVID-19 patients.

11 Jan 2021

Researchers receive $2.95 million grant to create improved diagnostics for worm infections

Global campaigns to eliminate two tropical parasitic worm infections have been hindered by a lack of good diagnostic tools.

7 Jan 2021

Researchers identify traditional Ghanaian medicines to eradicate neglected tropical diseases

The discovery of new drugs is vital to achieving the eradication of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Africa and around the world.

4 Jan 2021

World Health Organization, Sanofi sign new agreement to eliminate neglected tropical diseases

15 Dec 2020

Study reveals onchocerciasis can be eliminated by adapting new measures and tools

A report on onchocerciasis (also known as river blindness) shows continued global progress towards achieving interruption of transmission of the disease.

15 Dec 2020

Illustrations by Nigerian artist kickstart debate on neglected tropical disease

Illustrations by a local artist in Nigeria are helping health workers and policy makers understand what it's really like to live with a neglected tropical disease (NTD).

5 Nov 2020

Researchers receive $5 million to study two types of parasitic infection

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received two grants from the National Institutes of Health totaling more than $5 million to study two types of parasitic worm infection that cause devastating illness in millions of people worldwide.

21 May 2020

Scientists create new models of tropical eye worm for development of anti-filarial drugs

Researchers at the LSTM's Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics, and University of Buea, Cameroon have developed new models of the tropical eye worm, Loa loa for the development of new drugs against filariasis.

30 Mar 2019

New anti-Wolbachia drug could potentially treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis

Researchers from LSTM and the University of Liverpool have successfully optimized a hit from a whole cell screening of a 10000-compound library to deliver the first novel fully synthetic and rationally designed anti-Wolbachia drug, AWZ1066S, which could potentially be used to treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.

8 Jan 2019

LSTM led partnership receives funding to develop drug for treating two neglected tropical diseases

An LSTM led partnership has been awarded nearly £1.5 million from the Medical Research Council for the pre-clinical development of a candidate drug to treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, by targeting the bacterial symbiont Wolbachia.

14 Sep 2018

Scientists develop urine diagnostic to detect parasitic worms that cause river blindness

Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a urine diagnostic to detect the parasitic worms that cause river blindness, also called onchocerciasis, a tropical disease that afflicts 18 to 120 million people worldwide.

28 Aug 2018