Serosurveillance to Monitor Onchocerciasis Elimination: The Ugandan Experience
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Date
2014
Authors
Oguttu, David
Byamukama, Edson
Katholi, Charles R.
Habomugisha, Peace
Nahabwe, Christine
Ngabirano, Monica
Hassan, Hassan K.
Lakwo, Thomson
Katabarwa, Moses
Richards, Frank O.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
Abstract
Uganda is the only African country whose onchocerciasis elimination program uses a two-pronged approach of vector control and mass drug distribution. The Ugandan program relies heavily upon the use of serosurveys of children to monitor progress toward elimination. The program has tested over 39,000 individuals from 11 foci for Onchocerca volvulus exposure, using the Ov16 ELISA test. The data show that the Ov16 ELISA is a useful operational tool to monitor onchocerciasis transmission interruption in Africa at the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended threshold of < 0.1% in children. The Ugandan experience has also resulted in a re-examination of the statistical methods used to estimate the boundary of the upper 95% confidence interval for the WHO prevalence threshold when all samples tested are negative. This has resulted in the development of Bayesian and hypergeometric statistical methods that reduce the number of individuals who must be tested to meet the WHO criterion.
Description
Keywords
Serosurveillance, Onchocerciasis Elimination, Ugandan Experience
Citation
Oguttu, D., Byamukama, E., Katholi, C. R., Habomugisha, P., Nahabwe, C., Ngabirano, M., ... & Unnasch, T. R. (2014). Serosurveillance to monitor onchocerciasis elimination: the Ugandan experience. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 90(2), 339. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.13-0546