Faced with the focal resurgence of onchocerciasis reported since 2004 in the South-West of Burkina Faso, the
Neglected Tropical Diseases Control Program adopted a resumption of biannual community-directed treatment
with ivermectin, since 2011 in the Cascades region and since 2013 in the South West region. The objective of this
study was to assess the situation of onchocerciasis transmission in the Cascades region, nine years after the
resumption of mass drug administration. This cross-sectional and descriptive survey concerned people over 5.
The traditional method of skin snip on both iliac crests was performed for the parasitological diagnosis of
onchocerciasis. The Ov-16 serological test was carried out in children aged 5 to 9 years.
In 22 surveyed villages, the overall prevalence of microfilariae was 0.11% and below the tolerable threshold of
5%. It was less than 5% in all the villages (n = 22), less than 1% in 21 villages (99%) and zero in 19 villages
(86.36%). The community microfilarial loads varied from 0.01 to 0.05 mf/b. Out of 946 children tested for OV-
16, only one 9-year-old was positive and whose skin snip examination was negative. All the positive cases came
from endemical areas in Cˆote d’Ivoire. Population migration is a risk factor for introducing the parasite into
Burkina Faso; it also is risk factor for the effective elimination of onchocerciasis which requires the joint
development of a control strategy between neighboring countries.

Onchocerciasis Neglected tropical diseases Community microfilarial loads Ivermectin Resurgence Burkina Faso