{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T12:25:21Z","timestamp":1789647921988,"version":"4.0.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Onchocerciasis is a neglected tropical disease targeted for elimination. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed guidelines for the verification of onchocerciasis elimination that include entomological and epidemiological criteria. The latter require demonstrating with statistical confidence that the infection prevalence in children is less than 0.1%, necessitating an assay with a high degree of specificity. We present an analysis of the performance of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA) version of the Ov16 enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) when used under operational conditions. In Africa and Latin America, the assay demonstrated 99.98% specificity in 69,888 children in 20 foci where transmission was believed to be interrupted. The assay produced a prevalence estimate equal to that of skin snip microscopy when applied in putatively hypo-endemic zones of Ethiopia. The OEPA Ov16 ELISA demonstrated the specificity required to be effectively deployed to verify transmission elimination under the WHO guidelines, while exhibiting a sensitivity equivalent to skin snip microscopy to identify hypo-endemic areas.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.18-0341","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,17]],"date-time":"2018-07-17T07:00:30Z","timestamp":1531810830000},"page":"749-752","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Operational Performance of the Onchocerca volvulus \u201cOEPA\u201d Ov16 ELISA Serological Assay in Mapping, Guiding Decisions to Stop Mass Drug Administration, and Posttreatment Surveillance Surveys"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"99","author":[{"given":"Frank O.","family":"Richards","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moses","family":"Katabarwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Firdaweke","family":"Bekele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Carter Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zerihun","family":"Tadesse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Carter Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aderajew","family":"Mohammed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Carter Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mauricio","family":"Sauerbrey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas, Guatemala City, Guatemala;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alfredo","family":"Dominguez-Vazquez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas, Guatemala City, Guatemala;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mario A.","family":"Rodriguez-Perez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Biotecnologia Genomica, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Reynosa, Mexico;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nadia A.","family":"Fern\u00e1ndez-Santos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Secretaria de Salud de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nidia","family":"Rizzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Estudios en Salud of the Universidad del Valle de, Guatemala (UVG), Guatemala City, Guatemala;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Harland R.","family":"Schuler Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Salud, Caracas, Venezuela;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raquel","family":"Lovato Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministerio de Salud P\u00fablica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zoraida","family":"Morales Monroy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministerio de Salud de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peace","family":"Habomugisha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Carter Center, Uganda Office, Kampala, Uganda;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David W.","family":"Oguttu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NTD Control Program, Vector Control Division, Kampala, Uganda;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Issam M. 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