Summary: | The Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to eliminate LF from endemic regions, where 1.34 billion people live at risk of this disease. The causative agent responsible for 90% of LF is the nematode parasite species Wuchereria bancrofti (Wb). The primary approach to LF elimination has been through mass drug administration (MDA), which serves to interrupt transmission by killing the microfilaria required to continue the parasite life cycle through mosquito transmission. Despite success of MDA, evidence indicates that transmission can rebound if drug administration is discontinued. In the void of well-characterized genetic markers, it is difficult to understand how a Wb population will be impacted by or recover from MDA. Here we use recently described mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms to evaluate the diversity of a Wb population that has been previously exposed to MDA in Papua New Guinea. Our data analyses reveal significant genetic diversity and evidence that MDA has not significantly reduced the genetic complexity of the Wb population. This study describes a population genetic approach for assessing the impact of MDA and other transmission control strategies.
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