Loiasis is a filarial infection of millions of people in western Africa. In addition to the morbidity caused by this infection, the presence of loiasis significantly complicates global health campaigns to eliminate two neglected tropical diseases- lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. When people with a high burden of Loa loa microfilaria (the causative agent of loiasis) are treated with anti-filarial medications such as ivermectin, they can experience serious adverse reactions including coma and death. Therefore, public health campaigns cannot provide ivermectin to people in loiasis endemic areas of western Africa, limiting their ability to control lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis. Our ability to easily and accurately detect loiasis and map endemic areas is a critical need. In September, scientists of WashU’s Molecular Helminthology laboratory published A novel antigen biomarker for detection of high-level of Loa loa microfilaremiain the journal PloS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Led by Dr. Sarah Greene, a Pediatric Infectious Disease instructor, the team used the L. loa antigen Ll-Bhp-1 (EN70-10598) detectable in the blood of people with high microfilarial loads and developed a prototype antigen capture ELISA that was specific for L. loa infection and detects people with more than 20,000 microfilaria per ml of blood with a sensitivity of 94%. The test works on plasma or dried blood spots and shows great potential to be further developed into a rapid diagnostic test to improve diagnosis of loiasis.