[Climatic characteristics of endemic zones and epidemiologic modalities of dracunculosis in Africa].

In Africa, the endemic areas of dracunculiasis are concerning two climatic zones: the sudano-sahelian zone which is characterized by the alternation of a short rainy season and a long dry season, and the libero-nigerian zone which is characterized by two rainy seasons and two dry seasons. The pluviometry in each zone determines a specific cyclic evolution of the cyclops (the vectors of the disease) in the ponds which are the most important places of the transmission. The climatic cycle having an annual rhythm as the cycle of dracunculiasis (12-14 months), the result is for each zone a constant period during which the epidemiological conditions of the transmission are the more satisfied and during which the disease rages to the utmost: beginning of the rainy season (May-June) in the sudano-sahelian zone and right in the dry season (December-February) in the libero-nigerian zone. During the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, it is important that the strategies of control as the national programs of control take into account these epidemiologic features of dracunculiasis.