Onchocerciasis (oncho), commonly known as river blindness, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that, according to the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study, has caused vision loss for an estimated 1.15 million people – nearly all of them in Africa. 

A new tool and protocol for testing for oncho developed at Smith College and University Hospital Bonn, funded through the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases at The Task Force for Global Health with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), promises more accurate and cost-effective testing for the disease. When widely deployed, the improved test will help scientists and health workers to better-target expensive treatments, while allowing resource-constrained health systems to spend more efficiently.