The ‘study of filariasis in Bengo province’, a research project undertaken by CISA in partnership with the Angolan Ministry of Health, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (United Kingdom) and the University of South Carolina (United States of America), was launched in January 2014 and returns to the field of study through to the end of September.

The first project phase saw the application of 2,000 questionnaires to adult residents in the project study area. In this second phase of fieldwork, researchers are implementing filariasis evaluation procedures and quick tests and thereby enabling the effective planning of ivermectin (drugs applied for the treatment of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis) distribution programs. This incorporates identifying just which communities may be targeted for onchocerciasis treatments given that there is a risk of adverse reactions to the drugs.

Filariasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by long, thin roundworms, belonging to the nematode class, called filarial worms. This parasite gets transmitted by a vector (fly or mosquito depending on the species), enters the host organism and takes up residence in a specific organ of the body and causes disease.