Bahr (1914), Sweet and Dirckze (1925), Catre (1932) and Dassanayake (1936) spotlighted the presence of the disease in certain parts of the country. The incidence and distribution of filariasis in the country were not known until a large-scale survey was conducted by Dassanayake in 1939. The disease was found to be prevalent in certain pockets in the Southern, North Western, Eastern, Western and North Central Provinces. The predominant species responsible for the disease was B.malayi. The bancroftian type was found mainly in Galle and Matara.
About an year or two after the termination of the second world war, many cases of lymphangitis were brought to the notice of the Department of Health and as a result established the Anti Filariasis Campaign (AFC) in 1947. Surveys carried out by the AFC revealed foci of infection in the South-Western coastal belt of Ceylon, especially in Negombo, Dehiwala, Kotte, Kolonnawa, Peliyagoda, Moratuwa, Beruwala, Induruwa, Weragoda, Galle, Weligama and Matara. In the urban areas the type of infection was by W.bancrofti and in the rural areas it was principally confined to B.malayi.
Sr Lanka was declared eliminating Filariasis as a public health problem in 2016 by the WHO, due to reduction of micro filaria rate (mf rate) < 1%. This success story is a result of disease surveillance through parasitological, entomological techniques and treatment as a result of the dedication and the hard work of our former directors, Medical Officers, Entomologist, Regional Medical officers, Public Health Inspectors, Public Health field Officers, Public Health Laboratory Technicians, Health Entomological Officers and other staff.
Currently Filariasis is endemic in 3 provinces (Western, Southern & North Western) and 8 districts (Colombo, Kaluthara, Gampaha, Galle, Matara,Hambantota, Puttlam & Kurunegala). There are eight Regional Medical Officers supervising the anti-filariasis activities in the endemic districts.