Progress report: October - December 1975

@M@ octfw/t o.t ORIGINAI: ENGLISH ONCITOCERCIASIS CONTROL PROGRAMME IN TIIE VOLTA RIVER BASIN AREA . Progress Reporj, October - December.1975 The 0nchocerciasis Control Pro,grarye in the Volta'River Basin area ls .planned as a collaborative undertaking between lhe Participating Governments of Benin, Ghana, Ivory C-oast, Mali, Niger, Togo and Upper Volta, to be carried out with the assistance of agenciesr of the United Nations system and the suPPgrt of the international comunity. Ttre Progrrn-e is carried out by WIIO ae Executing Agency with FAO as Associate Agency. fhe Progro"r-e Ileadquarters located at Ouagadougou under the authority of the Programe Director comprises fector Control, Epideniologicel Evaluatlon and Economic DeveLopment Units supported by Administrattve Servtces. Ttris Afrlc.a Inte,rcountry Programire ls backed by a speciaL unit ln WIIO headguarters, which'has responsibility for all research actlvities related to the Programe. A number of WIIO and FAO staff members aLso contribute to the actlvitles of the Prograrmre. (Itre presentatlon of the quarterly Progress reports follows the order of the main budget headings followed by rhe actlvities financed under the IINDP project number n*fl+fOO+. A report on economic development activiEies will be annexed at six monthly lntervals.) I a 1 United The United Nations Development Prograrilme, the Food and Agriculture organlzation of the Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organlzation. ocP/PP/7 6.1 Page 2 A. PROGRAMME ITEADQUARTER.S 1. By the end of December L975, 46 weekly aerial on the Black Volta, the ComUe-Leraba, the Bandama and Upper Volta, and 41 on the River Banifing and logical conditions necessitated reductions in the and an increase in the number of treatment points. larviciding circuits had been carried out and their tributaries in Ghana, Ivory Coast its tributaries in Ma1i. Changing hydro- amount of insecticide dropped in the rivers 2. Construction of the buildings required for Phase II at Tamale, Bole and Yendi was behind schedule. Recruitment of personnel for Phase III operations continued. 3. The Chief of the Epldemi.ologicaL Evaluation Unlt assumed his functlons in October. A candldate was selected for the post of economlst, Chlef of the Economic Development Unit, and wilL report to Ouagadougou during the first quarter of. L976. (a) offlce of the Prograrrne Director 4. During October the Progranme Direct,or vislted Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo, for discussions with Goverlunent authorities concerning their participation in Programre activities, and preparations for Phase III of the control operations. During the visit to Cotonou the Protocol between the Peoplers Republic of Benin and I{HO was signed by the Government, and the detachment of a nuober of national staff to the Prograrnrne was agreed. The draft country Protocol for Togo r^ras studied with the Government and adopted. 5. From 11 to 15 october the Prograrrune Director visited the WHO Regional Office for Africafor a general review of the progress and development of the Progrrrrme with the WHO Regional Director and his collaborators. 6. The month of November was marked by the visit of Dr M. G. Candau, Independent Chairman of the Joint Coordinating Corrmittee, during his tour of the seven Particlpating CounEries. Durlng Dr Candaurs stay in Ouagadougou meetings took place with the Ilead of State, the Natlonal Onchocerciasis Comrittee, Progr4nnne personnel, and representatives of the sponsoring agenci.es. The Prograrmre Director accompanied Dr Candau during his visit to Niger, where a meeting took place with the National Onchocerciasis Cornnittee. 7. In early Decesnber the Progranrne Director, together with the Chief of the Vector Control Unit, attended the second session of the Joint Coordinating Conunittee and the fifEeenth session of the Steering Conrnittee in Paris. A visit was subsequently made to WIiO headquartersfor discussions on Prograrrne matters. 8. Dr G. Nelson, Professor of ltelminEhology fro,m the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and member of the OCP Scientific and Technical Advisory Conmittee visited the Programne area from 19 to 31 October. During hls two-week visit Dr Nelson had discussiong with Progremme personnel and observed Progranrme activities in the field, particularly the rrork of the Epideuriological Evaluation Unit. 9. Other visitors to the Progr:me included Dr F. Serie, Director General of public Health, Ivory Coast and menber of the OCP Scientific and Technical Advisory Comnittee, Messrs Wright,Bottelier and Burer of the World Bank, Mr C. Groom of FAO, who attended the Information Meeting held on the occasion of'Dr Candaurs visit, and Mr G. Pennacchio, of tNDp, New york. 10. Close contact was maintained with the field representatives of the other participating agencies, and wlth rePresentatives of bilateral ald missions in Upper Vo1ta. ocPfPRfT 6. L PaSe 3 11. Information Officer: The month of October saw Ehe visit of a West German Television 1ct,"''.,ffiomaseriesofvisitswasPreParedinc1udingLawra(chana)tofilm epidoiological evaluation activlties, Wayen rrblind villagerr, the aerial- base at Bobo-Dioulasso, and Samandfni and Nasso to observe control operations and entomological evaluation. LZ. The World Bank filn rrA plague on the land'r was shown on United Nations Day (24 October) to all experEs of United Nations agenci.es stationed in Upper Volta. 13. Arrangements were made for press coverage of the vi.sit of the Independent Chairman to the Progrsme area in November, including a press conference in Ouagadougou on 7 November. lhe Information Officer also accmpanied Dr Candau when he was received in audience by Ehe Ilead of State of Upper Volta. L4. A visit was made to Nianey from 10 to 22 November t.o oPen conEacts with the information services and the news media. Ttre Inforaation Officer also participated in all Dr Candaurs meetings with senior government officials in Niger. 15. Orher activities lncluded the preparation of ONCI1O FLASII and the briefing of visitingjournalists and other rePresentatives of the mass media. (b) Administrative Services 16. Routine medical exsminati.ong conducted on OCP field workers at Sikasso revealed one case of trypanosomiasis and two cases of onchocerciasis ,mongst 2O persons. L7. Arrangements were made for two professional staff menbers to follow intensive language couraes in Europe duting their ho,me leave, and for two others to attend French language clasees tocally. Nine support personnel will sit for the United Nations language examination in January 1976. 18. Ttre Personnel Officer viBited Niger and Togo in connexion with the recruitoent of personnel for Phase III of the Programe. 19. Personnel: Dr P. Kramer, Chief, Epidemiological Evaluatlon Unlt, assumed his functions on 13 October 1975. Dr Bakary Simaga, Entmologist, Jolned the Vector Control- Unlt in November following an intensive EngLish language course tn the United Kingdom. Mr R. Lion, TechnicaL Officer, Vector Control Unlt, reported for duty on 10 Noveober 1975. MrA.Fatoyinho, Information Officer, resigned from the servlces of I{80 and left Ouagadougou on 13 December 1975 to resume his journallstic career. Mr G. Binz, Technlcal Officer, who had been temporarlLy attached to the Epidemiological EvaLuation Unlt, was reassigned to the WIIO/IINDP Trypanosocriasis Research and Control ProJect in Bobo-Dioulasso. Mr G. Akwei, Personnel Officer, was reassigned to the Regional Office for Africa, Mr Barry Cliff, Sclentist, replaced Mr David Baldry, as offlcer in charge of the aerial operations of the Vector Control- Unlt on 22 December L975. Mr Baldry will be reasslgned to a post in IIIIO headquarters in January 1976. 20. At the end of Lg75,35 of the:'g ."t"Ufished professional posts had been filled, and a total of 3O7 support personnel held contracts of one year or ruore. 2L, Budget and Finance: An estimate of the value of host country participation in OCP costs during 1975 with further estimates for the period L975-1979, was prepared. The estimated corresponding dollar value of these contributions by country is as follows: ocYfwf t o.t page 4 Port Abidjan Tema Abidjan Tema Country Upper Volta Lvory Coast Mali Ghana Total Material 13 landrovers 13 landrovers 4O Bales canping eq. 4O Bales rr Amount 1975 ooo ooo 000 ooo L97 5-L979 130 243 39 180 $6$4s$1 I r27 $ $ $ $ o00 ooo ooo ooo $ 179 oOO $ 592 OOO Progranrme in October to carry out22. An Internal Auditor from WHO headquarters visited the an audit of the financial operations. 23. During Decenber the Budget and Finance Officer attended meetings in WHO headquartero, Geneva to discuss an improved budgetary and financial system oriented to management control. 24. A visit was nade to Taoale by the Finance Officer Io review financial matters in the sector office, and with the tocal bank. 25. Supplies: About 6O shiprnents r^rere cleared through customs during the quarter. To reduce transhipment costs and to avoid delays awaiting rail space, Prograruae vehicles are being used for the transport of supplies from Abidjan to the progranrme area. An initial comparison of clearance charges paid at the ports of Abidjan and Tena suggest that the latter is considerabty less expensive: 26. A contract was negotiated with 27. A standard list of sub-sector guide. 30. OCP purchased and delivered to Sub-sector office, approximately tl be obtained 1ocal1y. Deficiencies , Shell, Togo, for petrol purchase in that country. garage equipuent was finalized for use as a purchasing I 158 602 CFA 381 862 CFA 92 431 CFA 26 480 CFA Trmale for sale to the contractor, tons of concrete reinforcing steel in the r"rork on the Bole Sub-sector COnmentS clearance * train to Ouagadougou clearance * drive to Tamale clearance clearance for the Tamale Sector rods which could noE office were being Costs 28. Installations/Construction (i) Ouagadougou: In October bids were received from six companies for the construction of the Programre Headquarters. The bidders uTere subsequently informed of the PostPonenent of the construction project. Installation of a petrol- punp and tank at Ouagadougou garage began in Decemberl it is anticipated that the pump will be in operation in January. 29. (ii) Sectors A conEract was signed in October for the construction of the Tanale aircraft hangar complex for Cedis 105 545. Construction time ls estimated at four months and work is e"peitea to conmence in January. The construction of the Korhogo garage was compleEed; insta11ationofe1ectrica1servicesisinProgress.Ihe@,"s completed except for minor modifications. corrected by the contractor; this constructi.on is about seven months behind schedule. ocPfPRfT 6.1 PaSe 5 B. VECTOR CONTROL OPERATIONS 31. With the approach of the dry season the quantities of insecticide uied to treat the breeding sites were gradually reduced. On the other hand, with the drop in the 1evel of the rivers and the subsequent appearance of ne\il breeding sites, it was necessary to increase the number of treatment points as the reduced river volume carried the insecticide shorter distances. In view of the satisfactory situation which was maintained over several weeks, it was possible to suspend treatuents on the upper reaches of the Black Volta and the ComUe. (a) Aerial operations . 32. personnel: In October three additional pilots and one additional helicopter mechanic ,".".ffiffiy Evergreen l{elicopters bringing the total staff uP to 13 (Chief Pilot' seven helicopter pilots, one fixed-wing aircraft pilot and four engineers). 33. Aircraft: I\do additional Be1l 206 B helicopters for Phase II operations arrived in the prograrule area on 22 October, the fleet for the control operations lras thus compoeed of five helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft. Pending the, completion of the hangar complex at Tamale rnternational Airport these additional aircraft operate from the Bobo-Dioulasso base. 34. Aviation fuel: C;ood supplles of drtrrrmed aviatiqn fuel contlnued to be received from AbidJan. Enpty ffel drums continued to be sent fro,m the Phase I zor.e to Tamale for refi1l1ng and dlstribution to eecondary bases in northern Gtrana. To avoid l-oss of drums through theft it is planned to construct fueL stores at a selected ntrmber of airstrips in the Ouagadougou sector. 35. Data storage and retrieval: The oodified Larviciding Record Sheet wag received from the printers (5ooo copies) during October' 36. Insecticide: Itre rotal of 1g 2L3.9 lltres of Abate dispeneed durlng the quarter' as "*p.rit-fEf,T732 litres durlng the previous quarter, refLects the extent to which dosages were reduced as a result of dry season conditions' 37. By the end of the year, dosages of lnsecticide on many of the smaller rivers were as low as O.3 litres. Oosagee on the larger rlvers were also reduced, e'g' 5'O litres on the lower Black Volta and 2.O litres on the lower Como6 and the Bandama' 3g. Revenue flight hours: Ttre number of revenue hours flown during the quarter amounted to: Number of hours Number of hours used (i) Ilelicopters(ii) Irrrbo-Porter 39. Surveys: Breeding-site surveys lilere carried out in the .rrr.yG* ,ade of the rivers in the Phase II and III zones Northern Togo). 9m L26 Phase I and LI(upper Volta, 7 50.6 zLO.3 zones, and Ghana and a large-scale carried out over40. Trials: Fron 19 Novenber one helicoPter \^las used two days a week for trial ;mlorphoxim, south of Bouak6 (Ivory Coast). fhese trials will be a period of three months. o*fexfto.r page 6 (b) Entomological Surveillance 4L. - MeIeorol'ogy and. rivers: During December showers lirere recorded in Upper Volta atBanfora (one day), Bobo-Dioulasso (two days), Diebougou (four days), in l,lali at Sikasso (twodays) and Bui (one day). No rai-n fel1 in the rernainder of the ouagadougou and Tamale sectors. 42. River 1evels that had begun to drop in september continued falling and by the end ofthe quarter many sua1l tributaries and the upper courses of so,me rivers had dried up. AI1rivers in ouagadouSou sector had stopped flowing. rn the Tamale sector the Tamne, the Moragoupstream of Daka, the Red Volta and the sisslli were reduced to a trickle. rn the phase rzone only the main rivers such as the Como6, Leraba, Tiao, Black VolEa, Bougouriba, Mou, plandi,Nzi and white Bandama contalned flowing erater. Ihe rapid and early drop in river levels isassociated lilith the low level of ground water throughout this region where there has been ashortage of rainfall for several years. 43' As a result it was necessary not only to adjust the treatment techniques but also toundertake regular additional reconnalssance to establish the distribution of the potentialbreeding places throughout the entire phase I area. 44' Su{veillance: rn october, 4L4 potential breeding places were surveyed. preimaginal stagee of the vector were found Ln 26 of them; 16 of these breeding places were located onuntreated tributaries of the Black volta in Ghana. rn Novenberr 2gi potential breedingplaces were surveyed; seven of them, including several on the Bougouri-Ba, proved positive and were treated at once. In December, the tatt in water 1eveI led to the establishmenE ofincreased numbers of potential larval sites 344 sites vrere surveyed and eight provedpos itive. 45. thr Catches of biting S danni?T: ,.catches of adults showed rhe situarion ro be satisfactoryarea. AcEordingly, only the situation in the most delicate areas r-sreported here. 46' Daily catches at the Bui site on the Black volta consistently remained below 2o feoares,excePt for a short period at the end of october when 4o were captured. At Chach6, also onthe Black Volta, the catches reached peaks of more than 1oo females in october, 4o inNovember, and 50 in Decemberl for the rest of the time they did noE exceed 20 females. AtBadikaha on the Bandama, catches during the quarter fluctuated between approximatery five and25 females. 47. In December trouble sPots in the Phase I area renained on the tr{hite Bandama at theusual sites of Chauss6e Badikaha, Bema and Chauss6e Niakar:mandougou; at Nrmayanedougou onthe Nzi, and at Kafolo on the Como6. Gatches at Pont Routier and Folonzo Radier, otherhabitual trouble sPoEs' were satisfactorily low. As previously mentioned, catches averagingbetween 2L and 6o per day were made on the BLack volta in the Bati6 area, at the Kurdaconfluence and at ragadi. North of a line between Bati6 and Dagoudougou, mean catches ofless than five S. damnosum per day are recorded. very few infective flies were found. 48, In the Phase II zone, ouagadougou 6ector, s. darnnosum was found in the wtiite voltaat Loata uP to mid-December and at Yakala ,rt tnGTi]on rhe Red voLta initial heavybreeding at Kampala and zLon-zabr6 dwindled to nothing by nid-Decenber. There was nobreeding on the Sissili in Upper Volta. 49' surveillance and catching activities continued in the phase rr area, where the hydro-logical conditions remained unfavourable for sinulium damosum larvae. catches of adultsreachedamaximuminmid-Novenber,butremai"@e1y1ow1eve1. t the Pha6e 51. Low parous rates in Phase II been taking Place cloee to most of 52. Reconnaiesance was carried out its tributaries. in the Phase III area, particularly on the river Oti and 53. prospecti.ons: Helicopter prospections of the l{hite Volta, Oti, Daka, Sissili, Kulpavn "rra UoE$G-revealed many potential and active breeding sites. The most important revelation rilas the lack of suitable maps for aerial work. A great effort was made, therefore, to prepare maps of Ghana that could be used for reconnaisgance and treatments. Since the maps with a scale of L:25O OOO were not accurate enough, it was necessary for Progrsnme personnel to PrePare maps of 1:20O OOO from more accurate maPs with a scale of 1:1 O00 OOO and 1:5O 0OO. 50. In Phase II in December the higheet flowing, e.g. White Volta, Kulpawn, Mole Mogonori on the Mole (134.2) near a very White Volta and at Sugu on the saoe river 54, Staff: Because of the lack of opportunity was taken to allow staff at Tenkodogo and Leo were temporarily 59. In northern Ghana, several hundred smears, site where the skin-blopsy had been taken, were infections. Although the f,ina1 results are not D. streptocerca was not found. ocPfPRfT 6.1 page 7 caEches were made along the rivers that were stil1 and Oti. Highest daily mean catches were made aE small breeding site, at Zongoiri Rapids on the where L.24% of all flies were infective. reflect the very active but localized breeding that has the catching stations. flies and breeding sites in the Ouagadougou sector, the their annual leave. Ihe duties of the Sub-Sector Chiefs asgumed by the Sector Chief. made up of tissue fluid and blood from the examined for the detectlon of other filari.al yet available, it was reported that C. EPIDEMIOLOGIC.AL EVALUATION AND PUBLIC HEALTII (a) Epideoiological evaluation 55. The Chief of the Eptdemlological Evaluation Unit who arrived in the Prograrrnne area at the beginning of october visitdd the sIHo RegionaL office for Africa for briefing in November. Due Eo the difflculties encountered in recruiting an ophthaluologist for the second Epideoiological Evaluation t€amr I temporary solution was found by appointing a short-term coneultant for a period of three months. 56. With the start of the dry season, the work of the Epideoiological Evaluation Unit proceeded without difficulty and with a renewed impetus. Ttre number of people examined auring the three months under review was rnore than double the number which was recorded during the previous quarter. Sinple surveys were carried out in 12 villages in Upper Vo1ta, lO villages in Ghana and eight villages in Lvory Coast. Out of 8454 persons examined during the quarter, 876 underwent a detailed ophthalmological examination. lhe results are sumlarized in Table 1. 57. The ophthalmologist conti-nued to co,mpare the Snellen (E-Test) and the SjUgren (hand- test) for the measurement of visual acuity. The SJUgren test has glven excellent results and progress has been made in standardizing this method in relation to the Snellen test. 58. Ttre two epidemlologiets in chaYge of the epidemiological evaluation terms initiated research in an attempt to improve the parasitological diagnostic oethod and render it more sensitlve both for the detection of llght infect.ions and for a more accurate measurement of the intensity of infection. ocvfrnf t o.t page 8 60' Simple evaluation surveys carried out ln nine villages of the district of Banforaduring the month of october, where the FED/occGEl vector controL campaign had been carrled outdurlng the years L96g-1973, showed that the epidemiological situatlon in some instances had,not changed very significantly. These preliminary resuLts, which rdarrant a deeper and moredetalled evaluation, would seem to indicate that 1; a hyperendemic epidemiologlcal sltuatlonand under perhaps special circumstances, the interruption of vector control operations for oneyear' can be sufficient to revert the endemicity of ih" pr"-operational revels. 61. The sociologists continued to provide their valuable assistance to the EpidemiologicalEvaluation terrns. In the district of Banfora (Upper Volta) they noted the existence of a migratory movement towards Senegal and Ivory Coast. Adult men leave their villages in search of work in the two above-mentioned countri.es in order to accumulate the funds necessaryto satisfy the obligations and taxations related to marriage and dowry. As a result of thls exodus, in some villages men of 15-35 years of age are ve\ry rarely found. In the villagee ofTili, Sekoti, Widenaba and Apodabogo (northern Ghana) it was nored thar during the last threeyears there has been a continuous retreat frm riverine areas. Onchocerciasis, scarcity of running rdater and devastation of crops by elephants were the reasons given for thedepopulation of such areas. 62. Ln December the sociologists finalized (a) a questionnaire contalning and explainingin detail the chronological actions to be taken when conducting interviews in vlIlages selecEed for the epidemiological evaluation; (b) a form to be utilized in the course of the surveys for the collection and recordlng of all socio-demographic data. (b) Public Health 63. During october the Public Health Advlser in cooperation wlth the I{IIo personnel in Uppervolta assisted the National Authorities ln preparing the natlonal health p1an. A survey was made of mortality rates in Upper Volta. 64. A short talk was given on the relation of water to onchocerciasls at the FAO/Danida Seminar on the development of hydro-agricultural installattons ln West Africa. 65. Following discussions with the Vector Control Unit on the roLe of artificial breeding sites, lnfotmatlon was collected on daros already existing in Upper Volta and those planned for constnrction durlng the next five years. It was agreed that efforts would be made to inforrthe authorities concetned of the potentlal dangers and the necessary precautions. D. I.rHO HEADQUARTERS SUPPORT UNIT 66. The period under review was marked by three meeti-ngs; a Sclentific Advisory panel(SAP) working group which met in Geneva frm 2O to 23 October (see Section E); the second session of the Joint Coordinating ConniEtee (JCC) which took place on 2 and 3 Deceober inParis; and the fifteenth session of the Steering C@ittee, also held in parie on 1, 2 and'3 December. 67. The epidemiologist of the ltQ Support Unit vieited the Progranme area at the beginni.ng of t.he quarter to investigate the possibility of establishing a research centre in the savanna area wtrere clinical trials with old and new antifilarial drugs could be carried out. AE the same time, the opportunity was taken to evaluate the operatlonal problens and to discuss with the Epldemiological EvaLuation Unit incidentaL research whlch could be carried out in thefie1d. 68. A statistician and a statistical clerk were recruited at WHO headquarEers and assumed responsibili.ty for the storage and analysis of entomological and epldemiological dara coming from the field, and for the computer progreinme. A11 the data collected by the Epideoriological Evaluation Unit in the course of the year has already been checked and properLy stored. 1 Fond" europ6en de et de Cooperation pour Ia d6veloppement de La comunaut6 europ6.rrrre/org.oisation de coordinationLutte contre 1es Grandes Bnd6mies. ocP fPRf 7 6. 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Qeaaas600!!!upuppgdiidiiidiooooooooo !klilrtr!t{lr}rd oooooooootraaraao.rardo. a o o. o o o o d-d u!!!u!!!qqq q@aq@ l!rBdd(!rBdd ooo ooooo()u() o()o(JQ >l5> >>l>l>>,(n (n (n !0 l!lrtrlr llr}{Hlrtrtrtrtrtrooo ooooo(0(d(B6(! HHH HHHHH(,(,CJc)(J d6(!UU! ooo r{!kcd(ddd ooqrtrdtrd rao{d (n d (u o. o. o.-d -d -d J tr olEHE6 H o6 !Noo (.) o !(,!4EriU6 >i z tl o -onENo6 oi c,6 ro d rd ca trI r4 Id rt] FqoF{oo (J2Hd a H5o o rrlH * 3 a rII d 6 a EI FrH4H rI]A az H l-t E a a tro oH Fl @ rlld El FI FA * x o rJ.trtrdo .ic ou o@ t!.t$ r! d(,>o, , >ior! o€ o ! (,) oi ruf.ii .-d e!pEd o.iE@ @!tt @oqJ dn 6 owfer/t o.r page 1O 69. The enEomologist/biologist together with the Director, Legal Division, WHo headquarters visited the United States from 7 to 8 October to negotiate with the aerial spraying contractor(Evergreen llelicopters Inc. ) ttre additional helicopters required by Ehe progralune for phase IIof operations. 70. The entomologist/chemist visited the Prograume area from 12 November Eo 9 December ro assiet in the trials of new lnsecticides, in particular of chlorphoxim, in collaboration withthe rnstitut de Recherches sur lronchocercose at Bouak6, rvory coast. 7L. Arrangements lrere made for the vislt of Dr G. Nelson, of the ocP sciencific and TechnlcalAdvieory C@ittee (StnC), to the Progranrme area i.n October, and for the visits of Dr Gibson and Dr Obeng, also of STAC, i.n January 1976. 72. In collaboration with the Chief of the Vector Control Unit during his visit to WHg headquarters in December, the Entomological Research Progrme for L976 was drafEed and a Progreme of consultants r^ras drawn up to assist in the study of the reinvasion phenomenon, should it recur, in the early part of 1976. 73. Documentation, i.ncluding the 1976 Budget, $ras finalized for the second session of theJoint Coordinating Comittee, and the fifteenth session of the Steering Conrmittee, which were attended by Ehe Director-Consultant of the OCP Support Unlt and his collaborators. E. AppLrED RESEARCH (ENTOMOLOGV/ECOI.OCV) 74. A Scientlfic Advisory Panel Working Group convened in Geneva from 20 to 23 October todiscuss the problems related to rearing Simulium epecles and establishing a laboratory colony of SimuLlum damnosum. The Chlef of the Vector Control Unit and the Cyto- taxonomist of the Progrnrnme came to Geneva to participate in the meeting. Ihe report of the meeting was distributed to certain Scientific Advisory Panel members for their comments and vtews on i-mplenenting the reconrmendations made. Dr R. Taylor, meober of the Scientific Advisory Panel, Scientist Director (Medical Ento,mologist) of the Center for Disease Control,Atlanta, Georgia, United States of Anerica subsequently visited the progranrne area to reviewthe sttuation. 75. The study on the S. damnosum complex continued at OCCGE with scanning electromicroscope studies indicating ,otpiiEfrtiifferences of cerrain cyrorypes. A ;";;"i;;"ii i..r-in"Llverpool School of Tropical Mediclne visited the area and ln association with the University of Gtrana carrled out preliminary trials using an electrophoretric technique wtrich gavepromising indication of its use in iden'tifying adult Simuliuu damrosue. An agreement r^/as established with the Liverpool School to pursue this researah ""d a"other with theBiosystenatics Research Unit, Otta\da, Canada, to make a detailed morphological- investigation of the different stages, larvae, pupae.and adults, of the S. dalrrosum complex to prepaie suitable identification keys. 76. Work has continued on developing techniques for s"mpling the larvae and adults ofS. dannosum by OP*SIOM. A compleoentary Agreement was established with the Institut de M6decine tropicale Prince L6opold, Antwerpen, Belgium, to assist with this work. plastic striPs of certain colours have been found to be useful arEificial supports for Larvae which have been recovered on then from depths of over one metre. Irials continue with different types of trapping devices. 77.Theinitia1researchonthewindmovementofsi@bytheCentrefor overseas Pest Research, London, uni-ted Kingdom, ,""GprEtEE-iE-report submitted whichindicated that this work may be beneficially continued in a more detailed and sophisticated manner. 1 Dt H. Townson, Lecturer in MedlcaL Entomology, School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool,United Kingdom. a, ocP fPRfT 6. L Page 1l 78. The progranune of research to investigate the reinvasion phenomenon in the southern periphery of the OCP area, should it. recur in L976, was dravm up and preparati.on began towards its implementation. 79. The aquatic monitoring programne was continued according to the revised protocol, and biological samples were collected monthly from selected rivers to provide informationron Ehe long-term effects of the Simulium conErol measures on the envi,ronment. A consultant' was recrult.ed to obtain u"selEGE from rivers in the Phase II and Phase III areas before t.he impleoentation of control there. 80. In the fieLd of lnsecticides, research on new formulations continued under the agreement between WHO and the OCCGE Institut de Recherches sur lrOnchocercose at Bouak6. A new sysEem of evaluation of larvicide formulations on a smal1 scale was finalized and the apparatus was constructed. From 19 November a three month series of trials began to evaluate the effects on non-target organisms of a formulation of chlorphoxim in rivers as compared to Abate. These triaLs are being carried out at weekly l-ntervaLs under the agreement mentioned above, and with the assisEance of ORSTOM hydrobiologists and a WIIO consulEant.2 Preparatlons were made for a consul-tantJ to evaluate in the Programme area a new method of measuring Larva1 susceptibiltty to insecticLdes. F. APPLTED RESEARCH (EprDEMroLocy/cHEMorHERApy AND TRATNTNG; uNDp pRoJEcr No. RAFfT4foo4) (a) Epidemiology/chemotherapy 81. An agreement was established with the Istituto di Istologia e Anatomia Patologica of the University of Rome, for 400-500 histological examinations to be carried out on skin fragments uaken from patients in the Programne area. The study of the histopathological changes, compared with photographic material taken on the same patients, should permit better identification and clarification of the skin lesi.ons due to onchocerciasis. 82. An agreement $7as also established with the Medical Research Council, London, for studies on the dynamics of onchocerciasis transmission to be conducted in a savanna area of northern Cameroon. Irrnunopathological and chemroEherapeutic studies are also covered by the same agreement. At the end of the year negotiations were under way with the University of Tllbingen for the recruitment of an entomologist to be atEached to the Medical Research Councilrs team. 83. In Decernber, the authorities of the Ministry of Health of Ghana confirmed their intent.ion to have the Cheluotherapeutic Research Centre established at Tamale, northern Ghana, where hospital and laboratory facilities were already available and the services of a medical Eupport unit could be expioited whenever necessary. Housing facilities for the Ewo WHO consultants to be attached to the Centre, are also provided, chough some time is needed to se.tisfy this demand. 84. Negotiations with Ehe OCCGE for carrying out chemotherapeutic trials with old and new drugs at the Parasitological Section of Centre lrhtraz, Bobo-Dioulasso, continued during the period under review. 85. A short-term consultant, to carry out a thorough study of the literature of suramin and diethylcarbamazine was selected during the quarter and will start this work in February L976. In Ehe meantime the WHO Library Services completed their iiterature search on DEC and suramin, covering the period 1960-1975.ta I 1 2 Dr R. Wal-lace, M. J. Troubat, Dr J. Mouchet, and member of Research Scientist, Freshwater InstiEute, Winnipeg, Canada. Hydrobiologist Technician, ORSTOM, NrDjamena, Tchad. Directeur des Services scientifiques centraux de IrORSTOM, the OCP Scientific and Technical Advlsory Conunittee. 3 France Bondy, ocYfflto.r page 12 (b) Training 86. Mr C. Aitchedji from Benin reported to Ouagadougou on 24 October prior to starring a :four uonth period of training at the Institut de Recherches sur lrOnchocercose at Bouak6. :It is expected that Mr Aitchedji w111 be assigned as Chlef of the Kandi sub-sector in Benin. r 87. Four technician trainees, two froo Togo, one from Benin and one from Niger have completed their training in OCCGE in Bouak€ and are now undergoing field i.n-service training with the vector control unlt ln the varlous sectors of the prograrmre. 88. The training of personnel for Phase III will continue durlng the flrst quarter ot L976; four technician trainees from Mali are expected to start training in January. 89. Dr O. Ba (Mali) began his training in publlc health at the Ecole de Sant6 Publique, Rennes, France. \ ,e E rrD-r s' I