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Epidemiological studies have been emphasized in the western part of Africa. In this area, the disease is considered an endemic. A study was conducted by the Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment in 2002. This study had a sample of 1458 persons, spanning across 16 different villages. It discovered that Loa Loa was present in these villages ranging from 2.22% to 19.23% of the population. The disease was found to be slightly more prevalent in men.

In a different country in western Africa, a cross-sectional community survey was conducted in Gabon, Africa. The study was performed by the department of Tsamba-Magotsi from August 2008 to February 2009. The study included 1,180 subjects. The subjects were evaluated for the presence of microfilaria using microscopy. The study found that the carriage rate of Loa loa in the subjects tested was 5%.(n=60). This rate falls within the range of the study that was conducted in 2002 by the Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment.

In the western part of Africa, there has been an increase in prevalence associated with the distribution of ivermectin. Ivermectin is used to prevent the infection of onchocerciasis, which is also very prevalent in the same region. Patients with Loa Loa that are treated with Ivermectin have extreme adverse effects, including death. Therefore, a prevalence mapping system was created called REMO. REMO is used to determine which areas to distribute the ivermectin based on lower levels of Loa Loa prevalence. The area that was discovered to be the most overlapping was the area where Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo overlap.

A study performed to review reported cases of Loa loa in non-endemic countries in the past 25 years. There were 102 reviewed cases of imported loiasis, 61 of them from Europe and 31 from the USA. Three quarters of the infestations were acquired in three countries that consider this an endemic: Cameroon, Nigeria, and Gabon. In the subjects viewed, peripheral blood microfilariae were detected 61.4% of the time, eye worm migration 53.5% of the time, and Calabar swellings 41.6% of the time. A trend appeared in the symptoms of the patients where Calabar swellings and eosinophilia were more common among travelers. African immigrants tended to have microfilaremia. Eye worm migration was observed in a similar proportion between the two groups. Only 35 of the patients underwent clinical follow-up. The men and women that conducted this study concluded that Loa loa would end up migrating to Europe and the United States, due to increased travel to already endemic regions.