Monitoring and evaluation of lymphatic filariasis interventions: an improved PCR-based pool screening method for high throughput Wuchereria bancrofti detection using dried blood spots.

Background: Effective diagnostic tools are necessary to monitor and evaluate interruption of Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) transmission. Accurate detection of Wuchereria bancrofti (Wb) microfilaria (mf) is essential to measure the impact of community treatment programmes. PCR-based assays are specific, highly sensitive tools allowing the detection of Wuchereria bancrofti DNA in human blood samples.