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Principio del fin de la oncocercosis en las Américas Onchocerciasis, also known as River Blindness, is a parasitic disease caused by the nematode Onchocerca volvulus and transmitted by black flies of the genus Simulium. It is endemic in Africa, where an estimated 37 million people are infected. It is almost certain that the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries brought onchocerciasis from West Africa to the Americas,¹ where transmission foci where established in six countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia. Since the beginning of the 20th century it was suspected that this vector borne disease was present in Colombia but the first confirmed case was not reported until 1965. The exact location of the single focus in the country was confirmed almost thirty years later in the locality of Naicioná, on the stream that bears the same name.² Initial epidemiological/parasitological surveys were carried out by researchers from the Universidad del Valle-Tulane University ICMRT (International Center for Medical Research and Training) between 1965 and 1970 and from the Universidad del Valle Department of Microbiology and CIDEIM (Centro Internacional de Investigaciones y Entrenamiento Medico) in 1977 and 1989.³ In September 1993, the National Onchocerciasis Committee was established in response to PAHO’s Directing Council Resolution CD35R.14 and to advocacy efforts by OEPA (Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas). A multidisciplinary, multi-institutional team was assembled to carry out a thorough active search for infection in southwestern Colombia. The team composed of researchers from the National Institute of Health of Colombia, the National University of Colombia, the Hospital Voz Andes of Ecuador and the Universidad del Valle, confirmed the existence of a single onchocerciasis focus in Colombia located, not on the Micay River as previously thought, but on a stream that flows into one of its tributaries, the Chuare River while ruling out the existence of a transmission focus in the border between Colombia and Ecuador.²

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2014-05-22   |   378 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 44 Núm.3. Julio-Septiembre 2013 Pags. 132-133 Colomb Med 2013; 44(3)