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travel
news review
![](/file/14186/www_07_1999.iso/inne/lonelyplanet/scoop/graphics/line.jpg)
15
February '99
After 25 years working on a programme for the eradication of onchocerciasis,
or river blindness, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has much to celebrate
with the announcement this week that the disease has been eradicated in
West Africa.
The disease, transmitted by the black fly, which leaves parasites in
the body, can eventually cause blindness and was a serious health concern
in many West African countries. As the black fly was most commonly found
along riverbanks, many fled these most fertile parts of the country causing
major economic problems. The disease is still found in parts of sub-Saharan
Africa and Yemen.
8 July '98
Air Afrique, the West African multinational airline, has been
forced to sell four of its fleet of 15 planes to pay off the airline's
debts which are currently around US$3 million. The airline is jointly
owned by Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mauritania, Chad, Niger, Benin, Togo, Burkina
Faso, Congo, Mali and the Central African Republic. As most of these countries
cannot afford a national airline, Air Afrique was established to provide
them with a regular air service. Air Afrique will cease all flights to
the US, France and South Africa but flights between West African countries
will not be suspended.
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