African Programme for Onchocerciasis Conhol (APOC) Programme africain de lutte contre I'onchocercose JOINT ACTION FORUM JAF.FAC FORIIM D'ACTION COMMTINE Office of the Chairman Bureau du Pr6sident JOINT ACTION FORUM JAI'II/INF/DOCI Eleventh session OzuGINAL :FRENCH t Paris. France. 6-9 December 2005 October 2005 Item 24 of the Provisional Agenda PROGRESS REPORT OF THE SPECIAL INTERVENTION ZONES OF THE EX-OCP (January - Jun-e 20105) L October 2005 JAFlI/INF/DOC/I Page i TABLE OF CONTENT A. ENTOMOLOGICAL ACTryITIES............. 1 l. Vector control in Togo and Benin from January to June 2005 I 2. Results of vector control 2 2.1 Blackfly Density 2 2.2 Transmission............. J 3. Entomological activities in Sierra Leone in 2005 4 B. RESULTS OF CDTI ACTIVITIES (see table 4 in annexe) 5 C. EPIDEMIOLOGICALEVALUATIONACTTVITIES 8 1. On the Keran:...... I 2. On the Kara: 8 3. On the Mo............ 8 D MEETINGS ............................:.... ...................... I 1 1. A meeting between APOC/Sru Management and partners: SSI, HKI and the World Bank as part of the reorganisation of CDTI in Sierra Leone ........11 2. Meeting between the APOC/SIZ Management and representatives of the Ministry of Health of Sierua Leone (Briefing of the new Programme Manager on the organisation of a worl<shop on the strategic reorganisation of CDTI in Sierra Leone) ..................12 3. Worl<shop on the strategic reorganisation of CDTI in Sierra Leone........ ........12 4. First meeting of representatives of APOC/SIZ Management with members of the national Oncho team at Makeni on 2 3 April 2005, in the presence of a World Bank representative.. I 3 5. Annual Review and Planning Meeting on SIZ activities... .................13 6. Annual meeting of the Special Consultative Committee (SCC)for 512.................................14 7. The meeting between representatives of the Evergreen Company and APOC/SIZ Management on 3l May 2005 in Ouagadougou.......... ......................14 E. MISSION OF APOC DIRECTOR TO ACCRA TO MEET WITH NATIONAL ONCHO TEAM OF GHANA.............. .........16 F. APOC SUPPORT TO SIZ t6 G. SIZ MANAGEMENT SUPPORT FOR NON-SIZ ZONES............. ..................17 H. PARTNERSHIPWITHNON-GOVERNMENTALDEVELOPMENT ORGANISATIONS (NGDOs) 17 ANNEXES .I Figure I : Catching point of SIZ in Benin and Togo ...............[ Figure 2 : Trend of simulium fly densities on the tributaries of oti and on the Upper Oueme ................I[ JAF1 I/INF/DOCl Page ii Figure 3: Trend of infective females and larvae at the various catching points in the tributaries of the Oti river.. .................. IV Figure 4 : Annual Transmission Potential (ATP) March - December 2003-2004 Simulium damnosum complex species infected with Onchocerca volvulus... ...........V Table 1: Comparison between daily catches from January to June 2003 - 2005 .... VI Table 2: Trend of annual transmission potential (ATP) on the tributaries of Oti from 2002-2005........ ............ VI Table 3: Entomological results in 2003 and 2004 in Sierra Leone Annual Transmission Potential (ATP) May - December 2003 VII Table 4: Results of CDTI activities in the SIZ from 2003 to 2005......... ................ VIII JAF1I/INF/DOC/I Page 1 A. ENTOMOLOGICALACTIVITIES 1. Vector control in Togo and Benin from January to June 2005 Entomological evaluation activities centred on the tributaries of the Oti and Upper Oueme in Togo and Benin. 16 catching points, of which 11 were regularly followed up by four catching/dissection teams (figure 1). f Rainfatl As in 2004, all the rivers stopped flowing from February to March 2005, except the main Oti River and the Keran. The rainy season started a month earlier in March 2005, in the basins of the Oti and Upper Oueme, as compared to 2004. These early rains furthered the resumption of flow in the Kara and the Mo Rivers, but had very little incidence on the flow rate, which overall remained the same as in 2004.It must be noted that the Upper Oueme is still dry. As a whole, 19 water gauges were used for larviciding. The national hydrology teams of Benin and Togo were retained per letters of agreement to carry out maintenance work on the network. * Larviciding b Aerial larviciding Aerial larviciding of the Oti tributaries were intemrpted from January to May 2005. Treatment ceased in the first and second week of January following bad weather conditions during the harmattan season. A month later the breakout of socio-political disturbances in Togo also brought about a complete halt of larviciding for three weeks in February (during weeks 6, 7 and 8) and in April - May (during weeks 16, 17 and 18). All these intemrptions occurred in the Keran River basin, in an unfavourable entomological context. Aerial larviciding resumed in full swing on 12May 2005. It is worth noting that 84o/o of the treatment circuits were supervised by SZ technicians. I Ground larviciding With the exception of the weeks in question, when there were social upheavals in Togo, larviciding on the Mo, main Oti and Upper Oueme Rivers were entirely carried out on the ground by entomological evaluation teams from January to May. The teams also carried out ground larviciding in the Keran and Kara basins, as a supplement to aerial larviciding, or during the time the latter was suspended. JAF1I/INF/DOC1 Page2 b Larvicides used A total quantity of 19105 litres of B.t.H-14 and 1341 litres of temephos (143346 US $) was used from Januaryto June 2005 as against 28034litres of B.t.H-14 (17661US $) in2004 forthe same period. b Aerial Contract and flight hours used 2005 marks the end of the first three-year contract that was signed between the WHO and the Evergreen Company (EHD to carry out aerial larviciding on the tributaries of the Oti and Upper Oueme. On the whole, 636 hours were guaranteed to the company. The WHO will have to take measures right away with a view to negotiating the second two-year contract (2006-2007) given the relatively long time needed to come to an agreement. 200 flight hours were used from January to June 2005 to undertake larviciding, against 178.5 hours used for the same periodin2004, giving a surplus of 21.5 hours (26337.5 US $). 2. Results of vector control 2.1 Blackfly Density The analysis of entomological data from 1997 shows an overall gradual reduction in blackfly densities on the tributaries of the Oti. This downward trend continued and reached unprecedented densities on the Mo in 2001, and on the Keran and Kara in 2002 (figure 2). From 2001 and 2002, significant changes occurred in larvicide coverage in Benin and Togo following good entomological results. Thus, larviciding on the tributaries of the East Lake Volta, of the Mono, Sio and Kouffol were definitely suspended in 200I. A year later, aeial larviciding were stopped in the Lower Oueme and its tributaries upon the closure of OCP in 2002. The cessation of larviciding brought about an increase in catches, especially in the basins of the Mo and Upper Oueme, locate on the southern border of the SZ. The bordering basins are actually invaded on a regular basis by migrant females, at the time of the monsoon winds (figure 2). The exceptional rainfall recorded in 2003 and 2004 was also an enabling factor for the local breeding of blackflies, since it filled up the several secondary tributaries, which have been dry for the past several years, and so were not programmed for in the treatment circuit. Fortunately, the current insecticide pressure generally helped to contain the blackfly density in the basins of the Oti and Oueme Rivers. From January to mid-June 2005, available data indicate an excellent entomological situation compared to that of the previous year. A downward trend in weekly catches was observed in all the treated basins, except in the Keran, where a high density was recorded. Thus, the unforeseen cessation of aerial and ground larviciding that occurred during the social upheavals in Togo did not allow for effective control actions in this basin. (Table 1). JAFlI/INF/DOCI Page 3 2.2 Transmission Since 2002, a downward trend of the number of infective flies were generally observed in the Oti basin. However this trend did not lead to a decrease in the monthly and annual transmission potentials because of the increasing number of infective stage of O. volvulus found in the flies at some catching sites (Figure 3). From January to May 2005, no transmission was recorded on the basins (Kara, Keran, Mo and Oueme). All the transmission recorded in these areas concerned only the month of June 2005. 2.2.1Oti Tributaries From 2002 to 2004, the Annual Transmission Potentials (ATPs) by the savannah species on all the tributaries of the Oti were maintained below the tolerance threshold of 100, except for Bagan on the Mo and Tapounde on the Keran in 2003 (Table 2). It must be recalled that in 2003, a number of parasites harvested in the Mo and Keran basins could not be identified by the molecular biology laboratory, and so were considered to be of the Onchocerca volvulus savannah strain by default. From January to June 2005, the available dissection results indicated that transmission was well under control as compared to the same period in 2004. Transmission was recorded in five capture sites (Titira, Tapounde, Aleheride, Beterou and Wari Maro) in 2005 against eight capture sites ( Titira, Tapound6, Wari Maro, Kouporgou, Bagan, Landa Pozanda, Sarakawa Kpelou and Mo at Mo). o Keran At Titira, corrected ATPs in 2002 and 2003 were slightly below 100. In 2004, an ATP up to 105 recorded was due to the fact one L3H non-identified by the DNA laboratory was assumed to be O. volvulus by default (Table 2). A crude transmission potential of 21 was obtained from January to June 2005.