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During August and September 2014, Patrick Bürgel collected data on the socio-entomological interface of riverblindness in Cameroon: The way of clothing, which may more or less protect the human body from the bites of the Simulium dannosum vector flies is a key-factor in epidemiology.  He could show, that the degree of exposure of the villages population has in fact decreased from a value of over 95 % during the first half of the last century, to much lower values nowadays.

Read more (abstract to be published soon)

In the frame of our COBE project, partner Dr. Flore Nguemaim Ngoufo from the University of Bamenda (UB) has set up her ouwn entomological lab in a building of the IRAD-Bambui Centre (Director Dr. Ebangui). Together with her collegues Moses and Ceril from the UB, she conducts entomological studies on Simulium biting densities and Onchocerca-transmission potential along the river Menchum valley.

It is the biological background of the life-cycle of Plamodium parasites and their triggy philosopy of survival that makes it so difficult to control malaria.
In the prestidious Naturwissenschafliche Rundschau Peter Wenk and Alfons Renz just published a comprehensive review of the life-history of these protozoa. Eukaryotic parasites behave much different if compared to prokaryotic pathogens. These differences become obvious in issues of epidemiology, immunology and self-control.

Malaria: Wettrüsten oder Selbstkontrolle? Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau, 67, Heft 6, 2014, S 276-299 (Reprints may be requested from: Alfons.Renz@uni-tuebingen.de)

With its high bio-climatic diversity, Cameroon harbours a large variety of bovine hosts and their respective parasites. Whilst our primary aim is to study the epidemiology of Onchocerca-parasites in cattle and men, we now enlarged our fous on other cattle parasites and diseases too: Tsetse flies and trypanosomes, ticks, piroplasmidae and Dermatophilus, Culicidae and Setaria, Ceratopogonidae and O. gutturosa. Microbacterial, fungus and virus diseases are very common at places where vectors are prevalent and susceptible hosts available. Beneath the Zebu cattle (Bos indicus), which itself belongs to different breeds (white and red Fulani, Mbororo, etc.) there are inbred Goudali Zebu at Wakwa (Zebu & Holstein & Braman), pure taurine species (Bos taurus; Namchi, Ndama) in the Poli mountains to the North-West and inbred Zebu-taurine local breeds: Kapsiki and others more or less mixed local species towards the Far North.

PhD Students from the University of Ngaoundéré, Msc. Babette Guimbang and Archile Paguem have started, with a grant from the Otto Bayer Fondation and with the support of Dr. Kingsley Manchang from IRAD and Dr. Mahmoudou from the Ngaoundéré University – both are very experienced veterinarians – to examine herds of cattle from different regions of North-Cameroon. More than 300 cattle have already been examined in the area around Ngaoundéré and a second sample of another 300 cattle has just been examined in the Dept. du Mayo Rey near Tcholliré.

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The results of this study shall enable us to deliminate the occurrence of Simulium– and Culicoides-transmitted boviner Onchocerca-species and assess their impact for the epidemiology of human onchocerciasis by zooprophylaxuis and crossreacting concomitant premunition (Dipl. biol. Albert Eisenbarth).

Sera and samples shall also be used for QTL-studies in order to link the genetic structure of the cattle hosts to their susceptability as regards the various endemic pathogens.

(Read more soon)

During the last 10 years, the Simulium damnosum s.l. populations at the river Vina du Sud near Galim decreased considerably, as indicated by the declining biting rates on human fly-collectors. Yet the reason for this is not clear: Is it due to ecological changes in the micro-environment of the local breeding sites, parasites of the Simulium larvae or just the dilution of the adult fly-population by an increase of the population density of the human and bovine blood-hosts? Loulou performed a series of experiments to find answers.

The photo shows Jeremie (left) and Albert, studying the blackfly larval-population in the river Vina du Sud.