World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day 2025 on 30 January
Unite.Act.Eliminate: Together against treatable poverty-related diseases
The picture shows different stages of lymphedema in patients with lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis). This disease of the lymphatic vessels is caused by the worm Wuchereria bancrofti. Despite significant progress, lymphatic filariasis remains one of the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 1.5 billion people are affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and a further two billion are threatened by these diseases. If left untreated, illnesses such as lymphatic filariasis, river blindness or schistosomiasis lead to permanent physical disabilities or disfigurement. Around half a million people die directly or as a result of NTDs every year. The German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) dedicates a separate research focus to these diseases. In collaboration with the DZIF’s African Partner Institutions, researchers are developing diagnostic and therapeutic tools for diseases caused by parasitic threadworms, among other things.
Expert service for World NTD Day 2025
On the occasion of World NTD Day, the following DZIF experts are available to answer your questions on the topic. Please also forward all expert inquiries to presse@dzif.de and cite the DZIF as the source for quotations in interviews and texts, including online.
Schistosomiasis—responsible for the most years of life lost to disease among NTDs
Schistosomiasis is caused by flukes of the genus Schistosoma. The flukes develop in freshwater snails and are transmitted to humans when swimming or wading in contaminated freshwater. Almost 240 million people are infected. This makes schistosomiasis the second most common tropical disease after malaria and the disease with the highest disease burden. The worms can severely damage organs such as the liver and impair fertility in women. DZIF researchers are developing new therapies and diagnostics to treat chronic forms of schistosomiasis.
Your contact for this topic:
Dr Daniela Fusco (interview language: English)
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine
E-mail
New antibiotics against worm diseases
River blindness (onchocerciasis) is an infection of the cornea caused by the larvae of filariae. The infection leads to vision loss in one in twenty sufferers and blindness in one in a hundred. The risk of infection with these filariae only occurs along rivers, where the parasite's vector, the blackfly, is found. Around 21 million people are infected. DZIF scientists have developed the antibiotic corallopyronin A, which is effective against bacteria that live in the filariae and are vital for them.
Your contact for this topic:
Prof. Dr Achim Hörauf
Deputy Coordinator of the DZIF research area „Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases“
University Hospital Bonn
Fighting the African eye worm
Another example of a worm disease that is widespread in the Central African region is loiasis, also known as African eye worm disease. The WHO estimates that around 20 million people are currently infected with the Loa loa parasite that causes the disease. Despite its frequent occurrence, the disease is not on the WHO list of neglected tropical diseases. In clinical trials, DZIF scientists are working with colleagues from the Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné (CERMEL) in Gabon, an African Partner Institution of the DZIF, to investigate whether certain broad-spectrum drugs against threadworms can successfully combat the parasite.
Your contact for this topic:
Prof. Dr Michael Ramharter
Coordinator of the DZIF research area „Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases“
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine
Evaluating the broad-spectrum effect of anthelmintics in clinical trials
As part of the eWHORM project, African and European partners—including the DZIF and its African Partner Institutions—are joining forces (go to the project website). Together, they want to implement the WHO's roadmap for neglected tropical diseases 2021-2030 and reduce the disease burden associated with worm infections. A state-of-the-art adaptive study design is used to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the repurposed veterinary drug oxfendazole against the worm diseases onchocerciasis, loiasis, mansonelosis and trichuriasis (whipworm infection) in parallel.
Your contact for this topic:
Prof. Dr Marc Hübner
DZIF Professor of Translational Microbiology
University Hospital Bonn
