{"id":351462,"date":"2025-12-08T16:57:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=351462"},"modified":"2025-12-08T16:57:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:27:28","slug":"onchocerciasis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis\/","title":{"rendered":"Onchocerciasis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News: <\/strong>Niger becomes the first country in the African Region to eliminate onchocerciasis.<\/p>\n<h2>About Onchocerciasis<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 429px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/midwivesrevisionuganda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/river-blindness.jpg?resize=429%2C306&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Onchocerciasis (River blindness) - Midwives Revision\" width=\"429\" height=\"306\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Midwivesrevisionuganda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a<strong> parasitic disease<\/strong> caused by <strong><em>Onchocerca volvulus<\/em>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is the <strong>second leading infectious cause of blindness<\/strong> worldwide after trachoma.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Transmission:<\/strong> The <strong>disease is transmitted to humans through repeated bites from infected blackflies of the <em>Simulium<\/em> genus<\/strong>, which are commonly found near fast-flowing rivers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Region Affected:<\/strong> Most affected populations <strong>live in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen,<\/strong> with smaller endemic regions in <strong>Latin America.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mode of transmission:<\/strong> Blackflies acquire microfilariae when they bite an infected person. These<strong> microfilariae develop inside the fly<\/strong> into infectious larvae over time.\n<ul>\n<li>When the <strong>infected blackfly bites another human, the larvae exit the fly<\/strong> and penetrate the skin to begin a new infection.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Infected individuals may present with no symptoms or may develop itchy rashes<\/strong>, eye disease, or palpable nodules under the skin.<\/li>\n<li>Blindness typically occurs only after long-standing, intense infection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Diagnosis: Microscopic examination of skin snips<\/strong> is the most reliable method for diagnosing onchocerciasis.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prevention:<\/strong> There are <strong>no vaccines or medications<\/strong> that prevent infection with <em>O. volvulus<\/em>.\n<ul>\n<li>Prevention relies on<strong> avoiding blackfly bites<\/strong> through personal protective measures.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Using insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved clothing, and limiting exposure<\/strong> to riverside habitats can reduce the risk of infection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Niger becomes the first country in the African Region to eliminate onchocerciasis. About Onchocerciasis Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a parasitic disease caused by Onchocerca volvulus. It is the second leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide after trachoma. Transmission: The disease is transmitted to humans through repeated bites from infected blackflies of the Simulium&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/onchocerciasis\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Onchocerciasis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1738,12039],"tags":[11872,11853],"class_list":["post-351462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-science-and-technology-daily-factly-articles","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-dd-news","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}