Researchers from Senegal and Colorado State University have found that ivermectin, a cheap, common heartworm medication used to combat onchocerciasis (river blindness) and other parasitic diseases, could also dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria. The study found that transmission of malaria parasites by mosquitoes fell substantially among people living in several Senegalese villages over two weeks after they took the drug ivermectin as part of a campaign to fight onchocerciasis. The drug appeared to kill malaria-carrying mosquitos.
Citation: Kobylinski KC et al. (2011) Ivermectin mass drug administration to humans disrupts malaria parasite transmission in Senegalese villages. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 85(1):3-5. Study abstact
