The contributions of different age groups to the transmission of onchocerciasis in a cameroon forest village

Abstract

The population of 3 rain-forest villages, heavily infected with O. volvulus, were divided into age and sex groups. Samples from each group were studied with regard to total numbers of nodules; concentrations of mf. per mg. in calf skin snips; intake of microfilariae by, and numbers of infective larvae developing in, groups of S. damnosum fed on their lower legs. The theoretical contribution of each age and sex group to the over-all transmission of O. volvulus in the village is calculated, and the value predicted by experiment for the whole village is compared with the value recorded under natural conditions from dissections of wild flies.