Background
A bi-annual community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) strategy was implemented in endemic communities along the Comoé river in the Cascades region of Burkina Faso, which had experienced recrudescence of onchocerciasis. The study aimed to assess the impact of the treatment in sentinel villages.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted between September and November 2016. Twenty-eight sentinel villages along the Comoé River from the districts of Banfora (n = 22) and Mangodara (n = 6) previously assessed in 2010/2011 were selected. An exhaustive census of inhabitants of each village was conducted. Individuals who were present on the day of the survey, aged 4 years and older and who agreed to participate were examined by skin snip microscopy. The prevalence of microfilariae and community microfilarial loads were calculated for each village and compared with baseline data collected in 2010/2011.
Results
Statistically significant declines in both prevalence and community microfilarial load were observed in almost all surveyed villages (P < 0.05 paired c2 test; and P < 0.05 Student’s t-test, respectively). However, in one village (Houetiera 1), the crude prevalence increased from 0 to 1.43% between the 2010/11 and 2016 surveys. A total of 156 individuals were found to be infected in 2016, and among these, 28.20% (44/156) had immigrants from Côte d’Ivoire. Four positive migrants had settled in Houetiera 1, which was non-endemic during the previous survey in 2010/2011, accounting for the increase in prevalence seen in this village.
Conclusions
Our findings demonstrate a reduction of endemicity, but suggest that progress was confounded by the presence of systematic non-compliers and an influx of infected immigrants to the region. Thus, bi-annual CDTI must be continued in this region and cross-border collaboration with Côte d’Ivoire will also be necessary to eliminate onchocerciasis.
BT - BMC Infectious Diseases DO - 10.1186/s12879-025-11673-0 IS - 1 LA - ENG M3 - Article N2 -Background
A bi-annual community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) strategy was implemented in endemic communities along the Comoé river in the Cascades region of Burkina Faso, which had experienced recrudescence of onchocerciasis. The study aimed to assess the impact of the treatment in sentinel villages.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted between September and November 2016. Twenty-eight sentinel villages along the Comoé River from the districts of Banfora (n = 22) and Mangodara (n = 6) previously assessed in 2010/2011 were selected. An exhaustive census of inhabitants of each village was conducted. Individuals who were present on the day of the survey, aged 4 years and older and who agreed to participate were examined by skin snip microscopy. The prevalence of microfilariae and community microfilarial loads were calculated for each village and compared with baseline data collected in 2010/2011.
Results
Statistically significant declines in both prevalence and community microfilarial load were observed in almost all surveyed villages (P < 0.05 paired c2 test; and P < 0.05 Student’s t-test, respectively). However, in one village (Houetiera 1), the crude prevalence increased from 0 to 1.43% between the 2010/11 and 2016 surveys. A total of 156 individuals were found to be infected in 2016, and among these, 28.20% (44/156) had immigrants from Côte d’Ivoire. Four positive migrants had settled in Houetiera 1, which was non-endemic during the previous survey in 2010/2011, accounting for the increase in prevalence seen in this village.
Conclusions
Our findings demonstrate a reduction of endemicity, but suggest that progress was confounded by the presence of systematic non-compliers and an influx of infected immigrants to the region. Thus, bi-annual CDTI must be continued in this region and cross-border collaboration with Côte d’Ivoire will also be necessary to eliminate onchocerciasis.
PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 10 T2 - BMC Infectious Diseases TI - Decline in prevalence and intensity of onchocerciasis in sentinel villages along the Comoé river in Cascades region, Burkina Faso following five years of community directed bi-annual ivermectin treatment, 2011–2015 UR - https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12879-025-11673-0.pdf VL - 25 SN - 1471-2334 ER -