title: The First Confirmed Elimination of an Onchocerciasis Focus in Africa: Abu Hamed, Sudan.
abstract: Mass treatment with ivermectin for onchocerciasis was stopped in 2012 in Abu Hamed, an isolated focus on the River Nile in northern Sudan. A 3-year posttreatment surveillance (PTS) ensued, at the end of which an evaluation was conducted in 2015 following the current World Health Organization guidelines for verification of onchocerciasis elimination. Vector black flies were collected from sentinel breeding sites and finger-prick bloodspots were collected from children ≤ 10 years of age resident in 35 communities within the focus. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening of 19,191 flies from four sites for the O-150 parasite-specific marker found no flies carrying Onchocerca volvulus larvae (0%, 95% upper confidence limit [UCL] = 0.16), and serological testing of 5,266 children identified only one Ov16 seropositive child (0.019%, 95% UCL = 0.074); whose skin snips were negative when tested by O-150 PCR assay. These results indicate that for the first time in Africa, onchocerciasis elimination has been verified after a successful PTS in Abu Hamed.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Isam M A
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Zarroug
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Kamal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashim
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Wigdan A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: ElMubark
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Zainab A I
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Shumo
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Kawthar A M
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Salih
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Nuha A A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: ElNojomi
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Huda A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Awad
authors.affiliation: The Carter Center, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.affiliation: The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katabarwa
authors.affiliation: Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.
authors.forename: Hassan K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Unnasch
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, Lancing, Michigan.
authors.forename: Charles D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.affiliation: The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Ohio University, Zanesville, Ohio. higazi@ohio.edu.
authors.forename: Tarig B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Higazi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017181:Onchocerca volvulus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009855:Onchocerciasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012843:Simuliidae / Q000469:parasitology; D013397:Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018509:DNA, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; C102097:Ovd protein, Onchocerca volvulus; D007559:Ivermectin