Loa loa Microfilariae in Skin Snips: Consequences for Onchocerciasis Monitoring and Evaluation in L. loa–Endemic Areas.

The specificity of skin snips for onchocerciasis diagnoses is considered to be almost 100%. Our molecular methods revealed that microfilariae emerging from skin snips collected from highly microfilaremic Loa loa– infected individuals were largely misidentified as Onchocerca volvulus. This has important implications for onchocerciasis diagnostic testing in Loa -endemic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]