Entomological surveillance of onchocerciasis in Burkina Faso: Progress towards interrupting transmission in blackflies in the main river basins of the country.

Current guidelines for onchocerciasis elimination rely heavily upon assessment of the presence of in the vector (). This entomological study was conducted over four years in several regions of Burkina Faso to determine the progress made towards interrupting onchocerciasis transmission. Larvae and adult blackflies were collected in eight river basins (Comoé, Léraba, Dienkoa, Mouhoun, Bougouriba, Bambassou, Nakambé, Nazinon and Sissili).

Field sensitivity and specificity of the SD BIOLINE onchocerciasis IgG4 Rapid Diagnostic Test in children <10 years old from endemic areas in Burkina Faso.

Skin biopsies (Skin snips) have historically been the gold standard for the diagnosis of onchocerciasis. However, in low prevalence areas and in areas with successful ivermectin mass drug administration (MDA) programs, skin snips are not sensitive enough to decide when to stop MDA; thus, serological diagnostic tools have been recommended for this purpose. This study assessed the sensitivity and specificity of the Ov16 Rapid Diagnostic Test (SD BIOLINE Onchocerciasis RDT) compared to skin snip in endemic areas undergoing ivermectin mass distribution using Community Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) strategy.

Progress towards elimination of onchocerciasis in the Region du Sud-Ouest of Burkina Faso which was previously subject to a recrudescence event after vector control.

Background: The Sud-Ouest region of Burkina Faso (especially the Bougouriba valley) has been historically problematic with respect to onchocerciasis control, with a recrudescence of infections after vector control carried out the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme was halted in 1989. After 1996, mass drug administration of ivermectin was instigated to control the recrudescence so that it would no longer constitute a public health problem. However, in 2010 WHO changed its recommended policy from control to elimination, and in 2013 biannual Community-Directed Treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) was instigated.

Assessment of Culicidae collection methods for xenomonitoring lymphatic filariasis in malaria co-infection context in Burkina Faso.

Background: Entomological surveillance of lymphatic filariasis and malaria infections play an important role in the decision-making of national programs to control, or eliminate these both diseases. In areas where both diseases prevalence is low, a large number of mosquitoes need to be sampled to determine vectors infection rate. To do this, efficient mosquito collection methods must be used.

Prospects for developing efficient targets for the xenomonitoring and control of Simulium damnosum s.l., the major vectors of onchocerciasis in Africa.

Despite the ethical issues concerning the continued use of Human Landing Catches (HLC) to monitor the Simulium damnosum complex for epidemiological monitoring of onchocericasis, few attempts to develop alternatives have been reported. In studies on a wild population of S. damnosum in Burkina Faso, we tested visual targets (different sizes and shapes) and olfactory stimuli (CO , and POCA and BG-lure® odour blends) for their ability to attract and collect host seeking blackflies.

Serological and molecular detection of Leishmania species in dog peripheral blood from Bobo-Dioulasso city, a confirmation of canine leishmaniasis enzootic area for Burkina Faso.

Canine leishmaniasis is increasingly reported worldwide and represent a threat to both animal and human health. In a previous pilot study conducted in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second town of Burkina Faso, we reported five cases of canine leishmaniasis. With the perspective of a One Health action plan, and in the context of increasing urbanization, this study aimed to provide new information on Leishmania spp in dogs in this city.

The impact of ivermectin on onchocerciasis in villages co-endemic for lymphatic filariasis in an area of onchocerciasis recrudescence in Burkina Faso.

In Burkina Faso, onchocerciasis was no longer a public health problem when the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa closed at the end in 2002. However, epidemiological surveillance carried out from November 2010 to February of 2011, showed a recrudescence of infection in the Cascades Region. This finding was made at a time when ivermectin, a drug recommended for the treatment of both onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, had been distributed in this area since 2004 for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis.

Monitoring Insecticide Susceptibility in Populations from the Two Biggest Cities, Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, in Burkina Faso: Implication of Metabolic Resistance.

In West Africa, remains the major vector of dengue virus. Since 2013, dengue fever has been reemerging in Burkina Faso with annual outbreaks, thus becoming a major public health problem. Its control relies on vector control, which is unfortunately facing the problem of insecticide resistance.

Entomological assessment of the transmission following recrudescence of onchocerciasis in the Comoé Valley, Burkina Faso.

Background: Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a dermal filariasis caused by infection with the nematode parasite Onchocerca volvulus, transmitted to humans through the bites of blackflies of the genus Simulium. Despite the decade-long West African Regional Programme for the Elimination of Onchocerciasis, involving the mass administration of ivermectin to populations in endemic areas, recrudescence has occurred. An example is in the Cascades Region of south-west Burkina Faso where the resumption of transmission had resulted in infection prevalences of up to 70% in some villages.

Onchocerciasis prevalence, human migration and risks for onchocerciasis elimination in the Upper Mouhoun, Nakambé and Nazinon river basins in Burkina Faso.

Historically, the whole of Burkina Faso was considered to be endemic for onchocerciasis (except a small area in the far north of the country) with prevalence rates 60-80%, but all endemic areas were included in the World Health Organisation Onchocerciasis Control Programme, which operated a system of vector control by larviciding beginning in 1974. In Burkina Faso larviciding had been phased out by 1989 when it was considered that onchocerciasis had been reduced to levels below the transmission breakpoint (and any residual infections would disappear without further intervention). There was never any mass drug administration against onchocerciasis in Burkina Faso, except in the Bougouriba and Comoé river basins (from 1996 and 2011 to present respectively) because in each of these two areas there was a resurgence of infection, and in parts of the Nakambé River basin and Sissili River basin from 1992 to 1998.

Recrudescence of onchocerciasis in the Comoé valley in Southwest Burkina Faso.

Onchocerciasis control by vector control was instigated in southwest Burkina Faso in January 1969 by ORSTOM/OCCGE, and continued until operations were taken over by the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) in February 1975, which itself ceased operations in the area in 1989 when onchocerciasis was judged to have been reduced to insignificant levels. Initially (1969-1975) vector immigration maintained unacceptably high levels of transmission, but OCP was much larger than the preceding campaign and in 1975 the Annual Transmission Potential (ATP) dropped below 100 at all sites in the Comoé river valley except Folonzo, which continued to be subject to reinvasion, along with the whole of the Léraba river valley. However, after the southern extension of the OCP in 1979, ATPs dropped below 100 everywhere in the Comoé basin (including the Léraba valley), and further dropped to insignificant levels after the western extension of the OCP in 1985.

Optimization of the Esperanza window trap for the collection of the African onchocerciasis vector Simulium damnosum sensu lato.

A simple inexpensive trap (Esperanza window trap) was shown recently to collect significant numbers of Simulium ochraceum sensu lato, a major vector of Onchocerca volvulus in Mesoamerica. Here, we report studies optimizing this trap for the collection of Simulium damnosum s.l.