river blindness

noun

: onchocerciasis

Examples of river blindness in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

More than 99% of cases of river blindness occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where a number of countries are nearing elimination. —Patrick Adams, NPR, 5 June 2025

The pause in fighting allowed health workers to distribute 200,000 cloth filters to impoverished areas, along with vaccines and drugs for other diseases such as river blindness, measles and polio. —Charles Schmidt, Scientific American, 29 Dec. 2024

In 1995, Carter negotiated a two-month cease-fire in Sudan to allow health care workers there to more safely help eradicate Guinea worm disease, prevent river blindness, and vaccinate children against polio. —Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 31 Dec. 2024

Great progress is also underway in combating river blindness. —Jonathan Alter, TIME, 29 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for river blindness

• kindness
• unkindness

Kids Definition

river blindness

noun

: a human disease of Africa and tropical America that is caused by a parasitic nematode worm passed on by the bite of a blackfly and that usually results in blindness if untreated

called also onchocerciasis

Medical Definition

river blindness

noun

riv·​er blindness ˈriv-ər- 

: onchocerciasis