Lymphatic Filariasis, also known as Elephantiasis, continues to be a major public health challenge in India. A vector-borne parasitic disease, it is an extremely painful and disfiguring disease that spreads through the bite of mosquitoes.

It's an elegant solution: Remove the habitat of a parasite-carrying aquatic snail and reduce the level of infection in the local community; all while generating more feed and compost for local farmers.

A collaboration of scientists from the United States and Senegal focused on doing just that by removing overgrown aquatic vegetation from areas upstream of the Diama Dam in northeastern Senegal. In doing so, they generated positive impacts to the local communities' health and economies.

Soil-transmitted helminthes pose the main health impact in tropical and sub-tropical regions, with children being at increased risk of infection. This study assessed the prevalence of soil transmitted helminthes among school children and their association with water, sanitation, and hygiene condition in Hawassa City, southern Ethiopia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Iraq for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the fifth country in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region to achieve this milestone.

Globally, around 116 million people are at risk of a disease that can leave their eyes scarred and blinded. This painful neglected tropical disease (NTD) is called trachoma. It thrives in places where clean water is scarce, sanitation is poor, and flies buzz around.

The good news - since 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there has been a 92% reduction in the number of people needing treatment for trachoma. Already, 17 countries have successfully eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Just this spring, Benin and Mali achieved elimination of trachoma as a public health problem.

Trachoma is the commonest infectious cause of blindness worldwide. Efforts are being made to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem globally. However, as prevalence decreases, it becomes more challenging to precisely predict prevalence. We demonstrate how model-based geostatistics (MBG) can be used as a reliable, efficient, and widely applicable tool to assess the elimination status of trachoma.

Drinking water quality has been a major public health concern in lower and middle income countries where access to improved water supplies is limited. Ethiopia is thought to have one of the worst drinking water infrastructures in the world. This study aimed to assess the spatial variation and determinants of using unimproved sources of drinking water in Ethiopia using recent nationally representative data.

Health agencies in Bauchi, Gombe and Jigawa have announced plans to distribute over two million doses of drugs to stem spread of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). The states also scaled up sensitisation activities and trained health personnel to enhance surveillance, detection and treatment of the disease. Health officials stated this in seperate interviews with newsmen while responding to a survey on NTDs in Bauchi, Dutse and Gombe.

The Plateau government said it is one of the two states in Nigeria that has eliminated Onchocerciasis, known as River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, also known as Elephantiasis.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that River Blindness and Elephantiasis, are among the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

The Secretariat of the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD) is pleased to announce the call for COR-NTD Research Links. This virtual series will include webinars, working meetings, research updates, etc., to share information about NTD operational research and related topics and will take place throughout the year.