Prevalence Studies on Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) in Some Villages from Three Senatorial Districts, Kano State, Nigeria

Aim: The study determined the prevalence of onchocerciasis in some villages from three (3) senatorial districts of Kano State, from November 2013 to September 2017.

Study Design: Cross-sectional Survey.

Place and Duration of the Study: Some villages from three senatorial districts of Kano State, from November 2013 to September 2017.

Methodology: Parasitological examination for the presence of microfilariae of Onchocerca volvulus was done using standard skin-snip method.

Results: Out of 1,926 individuals sampled, 361 (18.7%) were infected with the disease. Onchocerciasis was higher in Kano South Senatorial District (36.4%) than Kano North Senatorial District (19.8%) and Kano Central (0.0%) and were categorized as mesoendemic, hypoendemic and sporadic respectively. The difference between the districts was statistically significant (P<0.05). The highest infection rate was observed among subjects of age range 30-39 in Kano South Senatorial District (54.1%) and Kano North Senatorial District (34.7%). Chi-square test revealed that the differences in the prevalence of the disease in relation to age were however not significant (P>0.05). Males had significantly higher onchocerciasis prevalence of 208 (40.5%) in Kano South and 96 (24.2%) in Kano North Senatorial Districts than their female counterpart (24.7%) and (7.9%), respectively (P<0.05). Prevalence of the disease was higher among fishermen (55.6%) compared to other occupational groups.

Conclusion: This study clearly reveals the existence and severity of onchocerciasis in many villages of Kano South and Kano North senatorial districts but absent in Kano central senatorial district and that the disease is still of public health importance in these parts of the State. Therefore, urgent and constant interventions using ivermectin treatment and inclusion of health education on how to protect the populace from the bite of the vector black fly among others are highly recommended in the study area.