Vector elimination
In Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Equatorial Guinea, there are four areas where mass treatment for onchocerciasis has been supplemented by activities to eliminate the blackfly vector. Elsewhere in APOC countries, vector control is not feasible or cost-effective, but in these four isolated foci, vector elimination is a realistic target.
The vector control method of choice has been ground larviciding using environmentally safe insecticides. In all four areas, larviciding activities continued for two to three years and finished by 2005. APOC is now monitoring the areas and providing support for entomological surveillance to confirm the elimination of the onchocerciasis vector.
APOC
Fast-flowing water – a typical breeding site of Simulium blackflies, the vectors of the parasites which cause onchocerciasis
