Global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis: progress report, 2010

Overview

Lymphatic filariasis is one of the oldest and most debilitating of all the neglected tropical diseases. An estimated 120 million people in 72 countries were infected in 2010, and an estimated 1.39 billion live in areas where filariasis is endemic and mass drug administration (MDA) is required. Approximately 40 million people suffer from the stigmatizing and disabling clinical manifestations of the disease, including 15 million who have lymphoedema (elephantiasis), and 25 million men who have urogenital swelling, principally scrotal hydrocele.