Niger became the first African country to eliminate the parasitic infection onchocerciasis — also known as river blindness — and the fifth worldwide, according to WHO.
The declaration came after a decades-long effort that included vector control and mass drug administration to affected communities reduced the prevalence of the infection to nearly zero.
“Onchocerciasis has long caused immense human suffering,” Matshidiso Moeti, MD, MPH, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, said in a press release. “It has also impeded the economic development of affected