ABSTRACT
Onchocerciasis is endemic in south-western and north-western Ethiopia, and its public health importance and potential spread should be given proper attention, especially in the contexts of recent advances made in the therapy and control of this disease in Africa. The Ethiopian government’s policy of resettlement brought large numbers of peasants from the highlands into endemic foci of several vector-borne diseases, of which onchocerciasis is but one. Simulium damnosum complex is believed to be responsible for the transmission of onchocerciasis in the main river valleys in south-western Ethiopia. More information is available on the distribution, epidemiology, and clinical character of onchocerciasis. The clinical picture of onchocerciasis in Ethiopia has been described as mild in comparison with conditions in both the Sudan savanna and the Nigerian rain forest. Migration and resettlement have been suggested as major vehicles for increasing onchocerciasis transmission in Ethiopia.
