ABSTRACT

Onchocerciasis is caused by a parasitic nematode worm, Onchocerca volvulus (113), which is transmitted by the bite of a blackfly of the genus Simulium (114). Simulium damnosum is the species most frequently implicated in the transmission of the Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae (larvae) in African endemic areas. Onchocerciasis is known as ‘river blindness’ because the disease occurs near fastflowing rivers where the blackfly breeds.