Many of you are familiar with our involvement in the effort to eliminate river blindness in Ecuador. We have played a fairly insignificant role when you consider the scope of the project, but are pleased that we have been able to help in some small way with the eradication of this disease.

River blindness is caused by a parasite which is carried and transmitted by small black flies. Once the parasitic larvae is transmitted to a human host, they form subcutaneous nodules in affected individuals. The larvae mature, and adult worms remain in the nodules just below the skin. Innumerable microfilariae (tiny worms) are produced and released into the circulation, from where they gain access to the eye. If not treated early, an intense inflammatory reaction can cause irreversible blindness. For more than 20 years the river blindness team has been working to eradicate the disease from Ecuador. We have helped by traveling to communities along the river systems where the disease is endemic and removing these nodules for study and guidance as to how the treatment plan was progressing. As the years have progressed, there have been fewer nodules to remove, and many of the “nodules” that we did remove were actually lymph nodes, lipomas or other small masses.

In October Dámarys and I participated in the last planned trip to the river communities to remove these nodules. We traveled with Raquel Lovato down the Cayapas River to Santa María.  

Santa María - looking down toward the Cayapas River

 We saw patients for two days and removed over 20 “lumps and bumps.”

Removal of a lipoma in Santa María

 Once again, we found no evidence of active disease in any of the patients. One older woman did have an old, calcified nodule – one of the last remnants of the disease from which she had been cured.

A calcified nodule with no viable microfilariae or adult worms

We congratulate all those who have been involved in the river blindness project. The disease has effectively been eradicated from Ecuador, and the formal recognition of this accomplishment is forthcoming. We are thrilled to have had the privilege of being part of the team!