Recently, there were anecdotal reports of a high number of persons with epilepsy, including children with nodding seizures in the Landja Mboko area located about 9 km from the capital city Bangui, Central African Republic. We suspected the area to be endemic for onchocerciasis, and that the alleged increase in the number of epilepsy cases was due to ongoing Onchocerca volvulus transmission. However, ivermectin mass drug distribution (MDA) had never been implemented in the area. Therefore we performed an Ov16 antibody prevalence study among children, aged 6–9 years, using the biplex rapid diagnostic test (SD Bioline Oncho/LF biplex IgG4 RDT). The overall Ov16 seroprevalence was 8.9%, and that of lymphatic filariasis (LF) was 1.9%. Ov16 seropositivity was highest in Kodjo (20.0%), a village close to rapids on the river. Our study shows that there is ongoing O. volvulus transmission in the Landja Mboko area. We recommend that the extent of this onchocerciasis focus should be mapped, and the introduction of ivermectin MDA should be considered in these communities.

Support of visual disabilities in terms of preventive and curative treatment, is a priority for public health in Central African Republic. The lack of recent and reliable data on ocular pathologies in general including trachoma particularly, has led health authorities, in collaboration with partners to undertake an epidemiological investigation to determine the mapping. This study was designed to assess the importance of endemicity in the most sensitive groups within population, including children of 1 to 9 years old. Eight from sixteen health districts in the country, were selected for this survey as a first step. The data collected will assess the real needs in medical and surgical care to develop an appropriate strategic plan of support for this condition on a large scale. This is a cross-sectional descriptive survey carried out in one month, from November 23 to December 26, 2011 in eight health prefectures of the country. The sampling frame was the population of eight health districts. The exhaustive list of villages and demographic data from the national census conducted in December 2003, adjusted by the rate of annual increase of 2.5%has been used. The administrative headquarters of the places of the visited districts leaders were excluded from the sampling frame. A random survey in clusters at two levels made from formed bases. Twenty villages (clusters) in each health district have been drawn according to the proportional probability to the size of the totals cumulative. 12,800 children of both sexes, aged 1 to 9 years have been identified in this investigation and 11,287 were actually examined, or 88.2 %, sex ratio is significantly 1.11. The proportion by age group of the children sampled is stackable to the general population. 26.9 % of TF and 5.9 % TI have been diagnosed. Six from eight districts surveyed are endemic. Three of them had respectively rates of 32.3 %, 47.1 % and 54.3 %.

The authors return the results of a transverse prospective survey whose goal was to value the impact of struggle against the onchocerciasis after 20 years of distribution of ivermectin in a village of the Central African Republic. A transverse prospective survey with a descriptive and analytic aim of a sample of 393 topics aged of more than 5 years residing in Gami Village since more of 2 years and having benefitted the ivermectine in the last distribution that took place 10 months before. The epidemiological, clinical and parasitologic data introverted have been compared to the results of the previous investigations in the village. The parameters improved distinctly during the 20 years (1990-2010) notably the microfilarian indication (88% in 1990 against 19% in 2010), the middle microfilarian density (54 against 0,7), the CMFL Indication (39 against 0,67), the Knuttgen indication moved of the trance of age of 5-9 years to the one of more than 45 years since 1998), the cystic indication (36% against 8%), the ocular lesions (31% against 4%) of which onchocercian (28% against 2%), serious ocular lesions (16% against 1,3%), rate of blindness (9% against 0,8%), rate of meadow-blindness (9% against 0,8), important loss of vision (3% against 0,0%), ocular lesions in children of 6-10 years old (6% against 0,3%). These data permit to speak of control but not of elimination of the onchocerciasis in the grouping villager of Gami because of the persistence of the microfilarian indications susceptible to maintain the transmission of where necessity to pursue the struggle.