Simulium surveillance and control in Mahenge, Tanzania: time to think bigger and utilize drone-based remote sensing technology

Abstract

Onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, is an eye and skin parasitic disease caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus (O. volvulus) and transmitted by repeated bites of infected blackflies (Simulium species) (WHO 2022). Onchocerca species that infect domestic and wild animals, such as O. lupi, O. dewittei japonica, O. cervicalis, O. jakutensis, and O. gutturosa, have been reported to infect humans in 40 cases with clinical manifestations similar to those caused by O. volvulus (Cambra-Pellejà et al. 2020). Blackflies usually breed in fast-flowing and oxygen-rich streams and rivers hence the high prevalence of onchocerciasis in villages along or near the fast-flowing streams and rivers (WHO 2022).