The Prevalence and Transmission of Onchocerciasis in the Black Volta Basin: A Case Study of Some Communities within the Bui Dam Environ, Ghana
Loading...
Date
2013-12-16
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The constructions of dams are generally known to create ideal environmental conditions for the proliferation of the vectors of diseases and the consequent increase in parasitic infections including onchocerciasis. The Bui Hydroelectric Project by its location in an area endemic with human onchocerciasis poses a health concern related to the construction of the dam. The study was aimed at assessing the prevalence and transmission of onchocerciasis in communities around the environ of the Bui Dam, in order to provide data for appropriate interventions. Skin snips were obtained from 240 study participants in four study communities and kept in physiological saline at room temperature and the emerged microfilariae were counted under the microscope 10x microscope objective. Also, 1,490 black flies were caught by eight volunteers at the four study communities. Horizontal and cross sectional procedures were used to assess the prevalence, intensity and transmission of human onchocerciasis among selected communities in order to evaluate the risk of exposure to the working population and inhabitants around the Bui Project area. The results from the MBR, MTP and crude prevalence were used as indicators of the risk of onchocerciasis in the area. Results showed the combined prevalence of onchocerciasis in the four selected communities as 7.2%. The prevalence of the onchocerciasis in all four communities with prevalence ranged from 1.1% in Bui Village to 11.8% in Gborlekame is considerably high. The intensity of infection as measured by the community microfilarial loads (CMFL) was highest in Gborlekame (0.28 mf/ss) followed by Resettlement Part B (0.24 mf/ss) and lowest in Bui Camp (0.08 mf/ss) and Resettlement Part A (0.08 mf/ss). There were no significance differences among the CMFL at Gborlekame, Resettlement Part B as well as Bui Camp and Resettlement Part A (P > 0.05). Gborlekame also had the highest monthly biting rate (MBR) of 3,565 whiles Part A had the least MBR of 1,240 among the 4 communities studied. The results showed the area was endemic with onchocerciasis. These findings call for further strengthening of current onchocerciasis control campaigns that rely solely on ivermectin distribution in the Bui environ so as to achieve the set goal of elimination of onchocerciasis.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department Of Environmental Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science (Msc) degree in Environmental Science, June-2013