Indices of onchocerciasis transmission by different members of the Simulium damnosum complex conflict with the paradigm of forest and savanna parasite strains

► More than 48,800 flies belonging to 10 different members of the Simulium damnosum complex were dissected. ► Numbers of Onchocerca volvulus larvae in the flies from forest and savanna zones were analysed. ► Blindness was positively correlated with transmission rates in a forest vector. ► Conversion rates to third stage larvae were equivalent in different taxa. ► The results do not concur with the paradigm of forest and savanna strains of the parasite.