Table 1.

Chronological list of historical studies and reports of W.bancrofti prevalence and disease cases

Time	Province	Region/location	Prevalence/cases	Notes	Reference(s)
1900s	Bas Congo	Boma	1 case	Filaria nocturna (W. bancrofti) found in night blood from a boy	Van Campenhout and Dreypondt 1901 [39]
1930s	Oriental	Uele	Cases	Elephantiasis and hydrocele s - no W. bancrofti microfilaria detected	Van den Berghe 1941 [42]
	Bas Congo	Matadi Thysville and Luozi Kinshasa environs (Leopoldville)	12-36% 2-8% 0.1%	42 cases from villages around mouth/lower Congo River 1-4 cases from villages northward from mouth of Congo River 1 case from 1101 individuals examined from villages in region	Henrard et al. 1946 [44]
		Kinshasa Matadi	0.8% 3%	14 cases from 1824 hospital patients screened for infection 47 cases from 1500 hospital patients, villages close to Angola border	Hernard et al. 1946 [44]
	Bandundu	Idiofa Bandundu (Banningville)	3- 16% 3-31%	14 cases from villages along Kasai River 11 cases, most from villages along Kwango River	Henrard et al. 1946 [44]
	Équateur	Mbandaka (Coquilhatville)	1-3%	3-4 cases, all considered to be from external endemic areas	Henrard et al. 1946 [44].
1940s	Bandundu	Kwango River Kwilu River Inzia, Kasai and Wamba Rivers	20% 12% 2.4 - 3.4%	Overall villages on rivers had higher mf (12.8%) rates compared with villages more than 2 km away (1.5%). Villages along the Kwango river had the highest rates.	Fain 1947 [47]
	Bandundu	Kwango River	Cases	Clinical case examination of patients from villages along river	Fain 1951 [49]
	Équateur	Mbandaka (Coquilhatville)	4.8%	249 prisoners examined, cases likely from external endemic areas	Chardome & Peel 1949 [43]
	Orientale	Yahuma, Basoko District	46%	25 cases from 54 adult males examined in villages south of Yahuma	Bellefontaine 1949 [51]
1950s	Bandundu	Kasongo Lunda	12 cases	Typical signs detected in patients during 188 hernia operations	Van Oye and Pierquin 1961 [38]
	Équateur	Bumba, Banzyville, Gemena, Ikela		Reported to be widespread in northern region of province	Van Oye and Pierquin 1960 [37]
1960s	Oriental	Lomami	63-67% adults	9% in youths, 4% children, cases found in villages along Congo River. Hydrocele in 20% of adult males, low prevalence of elephantiasis	Browne 1960 [50]
	Kasia, Oriental	Not specified	-	Disease widespread, most cases reported from Kasai and Oriental	Dept of Health 1965
	Équateur	Tshuapa (Cuvette Central)	0.6%	4 cases from villages on Maringa River and Lomela River, most villages examined in region were free from disease	Fain et a.l. 1969 [45]
1970s	Bas Congo	Kimbanza, Mayubu region	32%	18 cases from 56 people in one village close to lower Congo River, all other villages in region free of disease.	Fain et al. 1974 [48]