Onchocerca volvulus: striking decrease in transmission in the Vina valley (Cameroon) after eight annual large scale ivermectin treatments.

The impact of repeated ivermectin treatments on the transmission of Onchocerca volvulus was evaluated in the Vina valley, northern Cameroon, by comparing the prevalence and intensity of infection observed in untreated 5-7 years old children living in the treated communities before and after 7-8 successive annual rounds of ivermectin treatment of the general population of those communities. The villages studied were Ngoumi and Babidan, where the initial community microfilarial loads (CMFL) were 83.7 and 216.4 microfilariae per skin snip, respectively. In 1995, after 8 annual treatments, the prevalence and intensity in Ngoumi had decreased by more than 90%, compared with the pretreatment values, and the prevalence continued to decrease between 1992 and 1995. In Babidan, after 7 annual treatments, the prevalence and intensity had also decreased significantly, but less than in Ngoumi. The study demonstrated that repeated treatments brought about a notable reduction in the transmission of O. volvulus in the Vina valley, despite unfavourable factors such as mean drug coverages below 60% and the good vectorial competence of Simulium damnosum s.s. and S. sirbanum.