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Rapid Suppression of Onchocerca volvulus Transmission in Two Communities of the Southern Chiapas Focus, Mexico, Achieved by Quarterly Treatments with Mectizan

The impact of quarterly Mectizan (ivermectin) treatments on transmission, microfiladermia, and ocular lesions was evaluated in two formerly hyperendemic communities (Las Golondrinas and Las Nubes II) located in the main endemic focus for onchocerciasis in Southern Chiapas, Mexico. The data suggest that Onchocerca volvulus transmission has been suppressed after elimination of microfiladermia in these two communities. Increasing the frequency of Mectizan treatment to four times per year appears to have resulted in the rapid suppression of transmission in communities with residual transmission.

Received March 20, 2008. Accepted for publication May 10, 2008.

Acknowledgments: Mario A. Rodríguez-Pérez holds a scholarship from Comisión de Operación y Fomento de Actividades Académicas/Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN). We thank Miss Guadalupe C. Rodriguez-Castillejos (IPN) for assistance with this project. We are indebted to Dr. Olga Real-Najarro (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León) for critically reading an earlier version of the manuscript. We also thank the people from the two extra-sentinel communities (Las Golondrinas and Las Nubes II) the focus of Southern Chiapas who enthusiastically participated in this study.

Financial support: This project was supported by CONACYT-México (Grant 43436-R), by the Onchocerciasis Elimination Programme for the Americas (OEPA), and by the Center for Biotechnological Genomics/IPN (Grant SIP No. 20040402).

^* Address correspondence to Mario A. Rodríguez-Pérez, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Boulevard del Maestro esquina Elías Piña, Col. Narciso Mendoza, 88710, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, México. E-mail: mrodriguez{at}ipn.mx

Authors’ addresses: Mario A. Rodríguez-Pérez, Aldo Segura-Cabrera, and Cristian Lizarazo-Ortega, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Boulevard del Maestro esquina Elías Piña, Col. Narciso Mendoza, 88710, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, México. Miguel A. Lutzow-Steiner, Centro Nacional de Vigilancia Epidemiológica y Control de Enfermedades, Benjamin Franklin 132, 1er piso, Colonia Escandón, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, 11800, México D.F. Alfredo Domínguez-Vázquez and Mauricio Sauerbrey, Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas, 14 calle 3-51 zona 10 edificio Murano Center, oficina 1401, CP 01010, Guatemala City. Frank Richards Jr., River Blindness Program, The Carter Center, One Copenhill, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307. Thomas R. Unnasch and Hassan K. Hassan, Department of Global Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612. Raymundo Hernández-Hernández, Jurisdicción Sanitaria No. 7 (Tapachula, Chiapas), Secretaría de Salud, Hospital General de Huixtla, Chiapas, 29000, México.