Title Participants "La sicklanémie de l'adulte au Congo-Kinshasa" "JL Michaux, M De Broe, G Van Ros" "Le Kivu, un enjeu régional dans la guerre du Congo-Kinshasa" "Stanislas Mararo Bucyalimwe" "L'Est dans la guerre du Congo-Kinshasa" "Stanislas Mararo Bucyalimwe" "Notes sur un foyer de goitre endémique situé sur les rives du Kwango (Congo-Kinshasa)" "A Fain" "Nodding syndrome and epilepsy in onchocerciasis endemic regions" "Robert Colebunders, J.L. Mokili, J.F. Wamala, J. Kaducu, L. Kur, F. Tepage, M. Mandro, G. Mucinya, G. Mambandu, M.Y. Komba, J.L. Lumaliza, M. van Oijen, A. Laudisoit" "BACKGROUND: Nodding syndrome (NS) is an epilepsy disorder occurring in children in South Sudan, northern Uganda and Tanzania. The etiology of NS is unknown, but epidemiological studies demonstrate an association between NS and onchocerciasis. METHODS: Between November 2013 and July 2015 we visited onchocerciasis endemic regions in South Sudan, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to assess the epilepsy situation. In South Sudan we interviewed patients and affected families, health officials, colleagues and healthcare workers, and performed a small household survey to estimate the epilepsy prevalence in the village of Mvolo, Western Equatoria State. Most information from Uganda was collected through discussions with colleagues and a review of published literature and reports. In the Bas-Uele district of the DRC, we visited the villages of Liguga, Titule and Dingila, interviewed patients with epilepsy and family members and conducted a preliminary entomological assessment. RESULTS: In South Sudan there is an ongoing NS and epilepsy epidemic in the Western Equatoria state that started around 1990. A survey of 22 households in Mvolo revealed that 28 out of 168 (16.7 %) children suffered from NS or another form of epilepsy. Thirteen (59 %) households had at least one child, and nine (41 %) households at least two children with NS or another form of epilepsy. In northern Uganda, an NS and epilepsy epidemic started around 2000. The occurrence of new NS cases has been in decline since 2008 and no new NS cases were officially reported in 2013. The decline in NS cases coincided with the bi-annual distribution of ivermectin and the treatment of blackfly-breeding rivers with larvicides. In Bas-Uele district in the DRC, epilepsy appears to be endemic with cases clustered in villages close to blackfly-infested, rapid-flowing rivers. The majority of epilepsy cases in Liguga, Dingila and Titule presented with generalized (tonic-clonic) seizures without nodding, but with mental retardation. In Titule, an epilepsy prevalence of 2.3 % was documented. The only anthropophilic species of blackfly collected in the region belonged to the Simulium damnosum complex. CONCLUSION: Blackflies may play a key role in the transmission of an etiological agent that either directly or indirectly cause, not only NS, but also other forms of epilepsy in onchocerciasis endemic regions." "Filovirus epidemic in 1956 in Bili, DRC [letter]" "Robert Colebunders, Jozef Van den Ende" "TLTF in cerebrospinal fluid for detection and staging of T. b. gambiense infection" "M.H. Abdulla, M. Bakhiet, Veerle Lejon, J. Andersson, J. McKerrow, O. Al-Obeed, R.A. Harris" "BACKGROUND: Trypanosome-derived lymphocyte triggering factor (TLTF) is a molecule released by African trypanosomes that interacts with the host immune system, resulting in increased levels of IFN-gamma production. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: TLTF and anti-TLTF antibodies were assessed in sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients infected with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (T. b. gambiense) in an attempt to identify alternative markers for diagnosis and stage determination of human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness. Seventy-four serum and sixty-one CSF samples from patients with parasitologically confirmed infection and known disease stage along with 13 sera and CSF from uninfected controls were tested. In serum the levels of anti-TLTF antibodies were unrelated to the disease stage. In contrast, levels of anti-TLTF antibodies in CSF were higher in intermediate/late stages than in early stage disease patients. Specificity of the detected antibodies was assessed by inhibition of TLTF bioactivity as represented by its ability to induce IFN-gamma production. Additionally, TLTF was detected in CSF from late stage patients by Western blotting with the anti-TLTF specific monoclonal antibody MO3. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest a new possibility for disease diagnosis with focus on involvement of the CNS through detection of TLTF and anti-TLTF antibodies in the CSF." "Neopterin is a cerebrospinal fluid marker for treatment outcome evaluation in patients affected by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense sleeping sickness" "N. Tiberti, Veerle Lejon, A Hainard, B. Courtioux, X Robin, N. Turck, K. Kristensson, E. Matovu, J.C. Enyaru, D Mumba Ngoyi, S. Krishna, S. Bisser, J.M. Ndung'u, Philippe Büscher, J.C. Sanchez" "BACKGROUND: Post-therapeutic follow-up is essential to confirm cure and to detect early treatment failures in patients affected by sleeping sickness (HAT). Current methods, based on finding of parasites in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and counting of white blood cells (WBC) in CSF, are imperfect. New markers for treatment outcome evaluation are needed. We hypothesized that alternative CSF markers, able to diagnose the meningo-encephalitic stage of the disease, could also be useful for the evaluation of treatment outcome. METHODOLOGYPRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Cerebrospinal fluid from patients affected by HAT and followed for two years after treatment was investigated. The population comprised stage 2 (S2) patients either cured or experiencing treatment failure during the follow-up. IgM, neopterin, B2MG, MMP-9, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, CXCL10 and CXCL13 were first screened on a small number of HAT patients (n = 97). Neopterin and CXCL13 showed the highest accuracy in discriminating between S2 cured and S2 relapsed patients (AUC 99% and 94%, respectively). When verified on a larger cohort (n = 242), neopterin resulted to be the most efficient predictor of outcome. High levels of this molecule before treatment were already associated with an increased risk of treatment failure. At six months after treatment, neopterin discriminated between cured and relapsed S2 patients with 87% specificity and 92% sensitivity, showing a higher accuracy than white blood cell numbers. CONCLUSIONSSIGNIFICANCE: In the present study, neopterin was highlighted as a useful marker for the evaluation of the post-therapeutic outcome in patients suffering from sleeping sickness. Detectable levels of this marker in the CSF have the potential to shorten the follow-up for HAT patients to six months after the end of the treatment." "Stage determination in sleeping sickness: comparison of two cell counting and two parasite detection techniques" "D Mumba Ngoyi, Joris Menten, Patient Pyana Pati, Philippe Büscher, Veerle Lejon" "OBJECTIVES: Diagnosis of the neurological stage of human African trypanosomiasis is performed by examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the presence of trypanosomes and numbers of white blood cells (WBC). Both CSF parameters are also used to assess treatment outcome during follow-up. In view of the importance of CSF examination, and the practical problems encountered with it, we compared the sensitivity of two trypanosome concentration techniques and the repeatability of two cell counting methods, as well as occurrence of systematic differences between them. METHODS: Patients were recruited at Dipumba hospital, in Mbuji-Mayi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 94 CSF samples, trypanosome detection was performed with modified single centrifugation (MSC) and double centrifugation (DC). On 189 CSF samples with" "Identification of hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and seroprevalence to Theileria parva in cattle raised in North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo" "M.K. Kalume, C Saegerman, D.K. Mbahikyavolo, A.M. Makumyaviri, T. Marcotty, Maxime Madder, Y. Caron, L. Lempereur, B Losson" "This study aimed to identify tick species and to determine their relationship with the Theileria parva seroprevalence in cattle raised under an extensive farming system in North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo in two agro-ecological zones namely medium (1,000-1,850 m) and high (>1,850 m) altitude. Among the 3,215 ticks collected on 482 animals, from February to April 2009, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (64.26 %), the main vector of T. parva, was the most abundant species followed by Rhipicephalus decoloratus (35.49 %) and Amblyomma variegatum (0.25 %). The mean burden of R. appendiculatus tick per infested animal appeared significantly higher at medium (6.5 +/- 0.22 ticks) than at high (0.07 +/- 0.3 ticks) altitude (P 0.05) different between medium (48.4 %; 95 % CI: 38-49) and high (41.9 %; 95 % CI: 35-49) altitude. These relatively low seroprevalences suggest that there is a state of endemicity to T. parva infection in the study area. The presence of the tick vector on animals was associated with an increased risk of being seropositive to T. parva infection (odds ratio = 2.04; 95 % CI: 1.8-2.3; P"