International Society for Neglected Diseases (ISNTD) Festival in London (Barbican Centre) 23rd of February

Programme Onchocercoses has been invited to take part in the 2017 Festival of the ISNTD on February 23rd in the Barbican-Centre in London.

=> for festival, see http://isntdfestival.com/showcase/4592561605

for programme, see http://isntdfestival.com/programme/4593247637

The presentation of Alfons Renz shall be at 16.30 in Session 4: Monitoring & Evaluation: lessons learned and the road ahead

This talk shall summarize the past 50 years  of research on riverblindness in Cameroon, from the heroic times of Drs Duke, Anderson and Fuglsang, to the first ivermectin-mass-treatments that started in 1987 and to the actual situation, which is characterized by a striking decrease of both vector biting rates (this was unexpected!), transmission and Onchocerca infections. Ivermectin, socio-economic development of the rural villages and zooprophylaxis by cattle have contributed to this success.

Onchocerciasis has been called to affect the people ‘living at the end of the road’. Therefore, rural development is a key-factor for control. From the organisation of community-organized distribution of Ivermectin by local health-workers, to changes in the way of life and clothing, which reduces the contact to the Simulium vector flies. Cattle, being an ideal proxy for the human blood-host, can beneficially interfere in many ways: Diverting blood-searching flies by zooprophylaxis and providing a significant degree of premunition by cross-transmission of the bovine parasite, Onchocerca ochengi.