ORPHA:2404
Loiasis
Publications
1,581
Trials
10
Interventional, condition-specific
Researchers
1,071
Distinct authors in sample
Gene link
—
Readiness
2/6
Stages with a signal
Clinical definition (Orphanet)
Loiasis is a form of filariasis, caused by the parasitic worm Loa loa, endemic to the forest and savannah regions of Central and Western Africa. Loiasis may either be asymptomatic or manifest as a large, transient area of localized, non-erythematous subcutaneous edema (Calabar swellings), adult worm migration through the sub-conjunctiva (''African eye worm'') and pruritus. Generalized itching, hives, muscle pains, arthralgias, fatigue, and adult worms visibly migrating under the surface of the skin may be observed. Severe complications such as have been reported in highly infected individuals receiving ivermectin during mass drug administration programs for the control of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.
How rare: <1 / 1 000 000 — fewer than one in a million. In a city the size of Kolkata, that might mean on the order of fifteen people.
Cross-references
Joined from Mondo / Orphanet. MeSH labels may enter searches; UMLS / OMIM / NCIT are stored for reference.
- MONDO:0016566
- MeSH:D008118
- UMLS:C0023968
- NCIT:C34784
Research stages
Trial readiness signals
Where this condition sits on an open-data research pipeline — not how close a treatment is, and not medical advice. Empty stages often mean “not in these databases under this Mondo ID,” not “impossible.”
2/6 stages with a signal
An interventional trial matched this condition name on ClinicalTrials.gov — see trials below.
- Gene identifiedNot found
No GenCC disease–gene assertion in this build
- LiteraturePresent
1,581 matched papers (697 in last 10 years) Source
- Phenotype characterisedNot checked
Not yet enriched from Monarch / HPO
- Animal modelNot checked
Not yet enriched from Monarch / Alliance
- Orphan designationNot checked
FDA/EMA orphan-drug designation not enriched yet
- Interventional trialPresent
10 matched on ClinicalTrials.gov (3 recruiting in sample)
Biology
Genes and phenotypes
Gene–disease validity from GenCC, plus phenotypes and animal models joined from Monarch Initiative via Mondo ID — not a clinical diagnosis aid.
Do we know what causes it?
Not yet — the cause hasn't been pinned down in GenCC.
No strong gene–disease assertion joined for this Orphanet entity.
Phenotypes (Monarch / HPO)
Not enriched in this build — Monarch phenotype joins were not run for this record.
Animal models (Monarch / Alliance)
Not enriched in this build.
Literature
Is anyone studying this?
1,581
1,581 papers have been published on this condition. That is a real research literature — still far smaller than common diseases (breast cancer: over 700,000 papers). Median papers in the last 10 years for a rare disease in this dataset (publications denominator n=5449) is 41.
1,581 papers since the earliest indexed year in this search — median last-10-year count for a rare disease in this dataset is 41 (publications denominator n=5449).
697 in the last 10 years · low confidence
Phrase hits: 1,581 · MeSH hits: 0
Who's working on it?
1,071
Distinct author names in 200 sampled papers — named people below.
Who's working on it?
People publishing on this condition (sampled Europe PMC records). Affiliation is the most recent found in that sample.
- 01Ramharter M26 papers · 2026
Department of Tropical Medicine, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine & I. Dep. of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Papers in Europe PMC - 02Boussinesq M25 papers · 2026
Unité Mixte Internationale 233 TransVIHMI, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), INSERM U1175, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
Papers in Europe PMC - 03Chesnais CB23 papers · 2026
Research Institute for Development, University of Montpellier, Montpellier 34394, France.
Papers in Europe PMC - 04Campillo JT21 papers · 2026
UMI 233 TransVIHMI, Université de Montpellier, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), INSERM Unité 1175, Montpellier, Franceand.
Papers in Europe PMC - 05Pion SDS18 papers · 2026
Unité Mixte Internationale 233 TransVIHMI, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), INSERM U1175, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
Papers in Europe PMC - 06Missamou F16 papers · 2026
Programme National de Lutte contre l'Onchocercose, Direction de l'Épidémiologie et de la Lutte contre la Maladie, Ministère de la Santé et de la Population, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.
Papers in Europe PMC - 07Mombo-Ngoma G16 papers · 2026
Department of Tropical Medicine, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine & I. Dep. of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Papers in Europe PMC - 08Adegnika AA15 papers · 2025
Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon.
Papers in Europe PMC - 09Hemilembolo MC14 papers · 2025
TransVIHMI, Université de Montpellier, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), INSERM Unité 1175, Montpellier, France.
Papers in Europe PMC - 10Veletzky L13 papers · 2026
Department of Tropical Medicine, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine & I. Dep. of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Papers in Europe PMC
Clinical research
Is a treatment being tested?
10
interventional trials for this specific condition
10 interventional trials matched this specific condition name; 3 currently recruiting in our sample.
Data as of 27 July 2026
10 interventional trials — more than 73% of diseases in the trials denominator have none at all (5114 of 7003; this disease is at the 91.7th percentile).
low confidence · 91.7th percentile (trials denominator)
Recruiting interventional trials
From the matched ClinicalTrials.gov set
10 interventional trials matched after quoted-phrase search and title/condition post-filter.
- NCT06350851·RECRUITING·Development of a New Rapid Diagnostic Test to Support Onchocerciasis Elimination
Conditions: Onchocerciasis · Loiasis · Mansonelliasis · Healthy Volunteers·Matched via name phrase
- NCT06613997·NOT YET RECRUITING·21-day Double-blind Trial of Albendazole in Adults With Loa Loa Microfilaremia
Conditions: Loiasis With Positive Blood Microfilaremia · Loiasis·Matched via name phrase
- NCT06252961·RECRUITING·A 3- to 5-day Clinical Trial of Levamisole in Loiasis Infected Subjects
Conditions: Loiasis·Matched via name phrase
Observational and natural-history studies
2 observational studies match this condition. These do not test a treatment and are not counted in the interventional-trial headline, but they are genuine research: natural-history work often defines the endpoints needed for a future rare-disease trial, and families may be able to enroll.
None of the matched observational studies is currently listed as recruiting.
Where to find support
We do not yet link condition-specific patient organisations. These umbrella groups support undiagnosed and ultra-rare families:
India — NPRD
Last verified 2026-07-26This ORPHAcode is not on our curated NPRD list (direct or Mondo-parent match). That does not decide clinical eligibility; families in India should ask a notified Centre of Excellence about current coverage.
Hand-curated for this project. ORPHAcode mappings are best-effort and may be incomplete or imprecise for umbrella categories. Parent (Mondo) matches mean the policy lists a broader category — confirm eligibility with a Centre of Excellence. Financial entitlements summarised from public policy statements and may change. This is not official government guidance.
How we counted this
Europe PMC query (preferred label + any corrected label + Orphanet and Mondo exact synonyms, stoplisted; unioned with resolved MeSH labels when available). UMLS / OMIM / NCIT cross-references are stored on the overview but are not added to the query string.
"Loiasis"
ClinicalTrials.gov query (quoted phrases + MeSH via query.cond, plus recall-expansion terms when used):
"Loiasis"
Interventional trials matched via: phrase (mesh = registered under a MeSH descriptor no name phrase would catch; recall-expansion = gene / selected parent terms used only for trials).
Study-type breakdown: 10 interventional · 2 observational · 0 expanded access. Only interventional studies enter the trial headline.
Query health: ok — strategies attempted: phrase; with hits: phrase
Run this search on ClinicalTrials.gov
Confidence reasoning
- Preferred label is short or not clearly distinctive
- No synonyms dropped by stoplist
- No label/synonym collisions with other diseases in this corpus
- Publication count (1581) is implausibly high for prevalence class "<1 / 1 000 000" — treat as possible over-matching, not a measure of research intensity
Ingested 2026-07-26T20:05:54.243Z