Articles on River blindness

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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.
Some tropical diseases can be treated with very inexpensive daily treatments yet remain common. Avatar_023/Shutterstock.com

Why aren’t we curing the world’s most curable diseases?

A cure for many tropical diseases was discovered 30 years ago this month. The drug is donated by its manufacturer. Why are we still dealing with neglected tropical diseases?
A father reads to his son while sitting under a mosquito net. Mosquitoes have undergone evolutionary changes due to long-lasting insecticide-treated nets. Georgina Goodwin and Vestergaard Frandsen

Why evolution must be at the centre of fighting parasitic infections

Although there have been global efforts to eliminate parasites, some parasites and vectors will have survived attack because they have evolved resistance.
Tanzanian Seif Ramadhan is washed before being treated for elephantiasis. Khalfan Said/EPA

How 2015 Nobel Prize drug might rid Africa of ancient scourges

The drug that led to two scientists wining the Nobel Prize for Physiology or medicine has made a significant difference for those suffering from elephantiasis and river blindness.

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