Articles on Onchocerciasis

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The parasites that cause river blindness and elephantitis have been afflicting people for centuries. Alexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images

Billions of dollars, decades of progress spent eliminating devastating diseases may be lost with undoing of USAID

Public health campaigns had made significant strides toward eradicating diseases like elephantitis and river blindness. But this progress has since unraveled with the second Trump administration.
A volunteer during a slash and clear session in the Ntui district of Cameroon. Villagers have reacted positively to this method of getting rid of black flies ELFA Media

Beating river blindness: blackfly bites dramatically reduced after breeding sites are destroyed with machetes

River blindness and the black flies that cause it torment millions in west Africa. The “slash and clear” method is an effective way to eliminate them at source.
An adult black fly with the parasite Onchocerca volvulus coming out of the insect’s antenna. United States Department of Agriculture

How some parasites can end up in your eye and turn you blind

In sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Latin America, there is a parasitic worm that infects about 25m people, causing serious skin diseases, epilepsy and blindness. Known as Onchocerca volvulus, it can live…

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