PREVALENCE OF RIVER BLINDNESS (ONCHOCERCIASIS) IN KAJURU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA
PREVALENCE OF RIVER BLINDNESS (ONCHOCERCIASIS) IN KAJURU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2015-11
Authors
BULUS, Reuben
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Abstract
River Blindness (Onchocerciasis) is a tropical disease that afflicts about 42million people in the world and about 99% of the victims of the disease live in Africa. The disease has been discovered in Kajuru Local Government Area. Blind people have been observed at junctions and road sides begging for arms. The study determined the prevalence of onchocerciasisas well as the spatial and temporal pattern of the disease within the area. The study also examined the socio-economic effect of the disease in the study area. Five wards were selected based on purposive sampling in which 382 copies questionnaire were randomly distributed. GPS was used to take geographic coordinates of the infected communities. The analysis was done using ArcGIS 10.0 and SPSS software packages.A variation was observed in the pattern of the disease.Maro ward had the highest prevalence of the disease (33.63%) while Afogo, Kufana, Kallah and KasuwanMagani had low prevalence (23%, 7.43%, 9.73%, and 6.19% respectively). The research discovered that males were mostly infected by the disease than females (64.7% vs 35.3%). Trend analysis was used to analyze the disease from 2008-2013. It was discovered that the month of August recorded the highest number of cases of Onchocerciasis while the months of May, June and September recorded the lowest number of cases. The disease was highest in 2009 with about 22% reported cases. More so, young people between the ages of 20-39years (60%) were mostly infected. Household size and type of accommodation were the only socio-economic variables that showed significant relationship with Onchocerciasisat 0.005% significance level. It is recommended that t here should be public enlightenment in the Local Government Area on the danger of living close to the breeding ground of black flies and cases of river blindness be reported to the hospital for immediate medical attention
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA-NIGERIA, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
ZARIA
Keywords
PREVALENCE,, RIVER BLINDNESS,, (ONCHOCERCIASIS),, KAJURU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA,, KADUNA STATE,, NIGERIA,