Rapid assessment of endemicity of loaisis in Ini and Ibiono Ibom Local Government Areas, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Rapid Assessment of Loaisis (RAPLOA) was conducted in a total of 13 meso-endemic and hyper-endemic villages in Ini and Ibiono Ibom Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, to identify villages that could be at risk of Severe Adverse Events (SAEs) following treatment with ivermectin in areas where onchocerciasis and loaisis are co endemic. Common names for loiasis namely Utung Eyin (eye worm) and Ubiak Eyin (eye pain) were found to exist in all the 13 villages. A total of 970 people aged 15 years and above were interviewed according to RAPLOA guidelines. Eleven of the 13 villages had RAPLOA rates of less than 40% and are therefore at low risk of experiencing SAEs. Two villages, Anananmong and Ikot Adaha, with RAPLOA rates of 40% and 40.5% respectively, are at high risk of Loa loa SAEs following treatment with ivermectin. Parasitological screening of blood samples showed that only 10 (1.03%) of 970 persons examined were positive for Loa loa microfilariae with prevalence range of 0-3.8% (median 1.25%). Intensity of infection was low with individual microfilariae load ranging from 20 to 3,200 mf/ml while Community Microfilariae Load (CMLF) was 0-8.9 mf/ ml (1.61mf/ml). There was no demonstrated relationship between RAPLOA > 40% and Very High Microfilarial Loads (VHML) in the two communities with RAPLOA of 40% and above. Based on the above results, it is advice that provision must be made to ensure that severe adverse reactions are quickly detected and managed during mass treatment with ivermectin in Anananmong, Ikot Adaha, and neighbouring villages. Keywords: ochocerciasis, loasis, co-endemic, treatment, ivermectin. Nigerian Journal of Parasitology Vol. 27 2006: pp. 85-9