NIGER: Country becomes first African state to eradicate river blindness

  Niger has become the first African country to eliminate river blindness, a parasitic disease that is the second-leading cause of blindness in the world, the WHO said Thursday. Niger is “the fifth country globally and the first country in Africa to be acknowledged by WHO for interrupting transmission of the parasite Onchocerca volvulus,” the […]

 

Niger has become the first African country to eliminate river blindness, a parasitic disease that is the second-leading cause of blindness in the world, the WHO said Thursday.

Niger is “the fifth country globally and the first country in Africa to be acknowledged by WHO for interrupting transmission of the parasite Onchocerca volvulus,” the World Health Organisation said, referring to the worm that causes river blindness.

River blindness is spread to humans via the bite of a black fly, mainly found near rivers, that is infected with the parasitic worm.

“The combination of medicine and vector control had successfully eliminated transmission of onchocerciasis, as evidenced by the reduction in prevalence from approximately 60 per cent to 0.02 per cent,” the UN health agency said.