Start the clock. After 24 hours, some 7,400 people will have been bitten by snakes, and 220 to 380 of them will die. That means 81,000 to 138,000 deaths every year. And 400,000 serious injuries such as amputations. But those are just estimates. No one knows how many…
Tsetse flies, vectors of trypanosomiasis, thrive in the tropical climes of sub-Saharan Africa—killing thousands annually. But Nigerian scientist Emmanuel Balogun, a biochemist at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, is determined to thwart the parasites that cause sleeping…
Black mamba. Mozambique spitting cobra. Puff adder. Living in the largely rural Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) means living among these notorious snakes, the country’s main perpetrators of snakebite envenoming, WHO reports.
Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever—caused by infected Borrelia bacteria transmitted via tick bites—seems rare. But is this due to low prevalence or because improper diagnoses have failed to capture its spread?
Left untreated, leprosy begins with discolored numb patches on the skin and eventually leaves people permanently disabled. Globally, the scourge of leprosy has largely subsided, but India still picks up over 100,000 new cases every year. Eliminating the disease means much…
Female genital schistosomiasisis is a neglected—but not uncommon—disease. The painful parasitic condition affects up to 10 million women and girls in Africa. It’s also a cofactor for HIV/AIDS—responsible for up to a 3-4-fold increase in horizontal HIV transmission,…
It's well known that podoconiosis—a form of tropical lymphoedema caused by long-term exposure to volcanic soils—causes massive swelling in the lower limbs and intense stigma. But globally there’s little detailed data on the condition’s toll, which hinders much-needed…
Nodding syndrome has devastated thousands of lives across some of East Africa’s most vulnerable and isolated communities.
Farming is the major source of income for young adults residing in sub-Saharan Africa. But for those living in the mycetoma belt, it’s also a curse—one that will continue to destroy lives until affected countries step up and prioritize mycetoma surveillance, management and…
China’s success fighting NTDs may see some setbacks. A study identifies 9 NTDs in danger of reemergence because of the “Belt and Road Initiative,” launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013 to boost economic relations across Asia and Africa. Malaria, leishmaniasis, and…
