A study to detennine a rapid screening method for onchoceciasis was conducted between Aprilrn10 and July 15 1996 in a populations of 5 villages, Manbuk area located in Pawi, North westrnEthiopia. Out of the total 3,385 censused persons 766 (22.6%) residents of age five years andrnabove, of whom 509 (66.4%) were heads of household, were included in the study. The 509rnheads of household were interviewed to explore information on the socio-economic indices andrnabout the populations knowledge of onchoceciasis. Parasitological and skin examination werernconducted on the 766 individuals who showed up to participate in the study.rnResults of the questionnaire survey indicated that the community actually knows aboutrnonchocerciasis, including its social and economic impacts. The parasitological examination byrnusing skin snips revealed an overall prevalence of 43.7 % and a geometric mean microfilarialrndensity (MFD) of 13.62 mf/mg both reaching peak at the age of 25-34 years, especially amongrnmales. Farmers and those in the lower socio-economic strata appeared to' be at more risk ofrninfection. A relatively higher prevalence and MFD was found in the indigenous population thanrnsettlers. Skin examination revealed the presence of acute papular onchodermatitis (APOD),rnchronic papular oochWermatitis (CPOD), depigmentation (DPM) and palpable onchocercalrnnodules (PON) in a higher proportion of the population. The major skin manifestations werernhighly correlated with infection load, with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.81,0.83,0.82,0.79,rnand 0.89 for APOD, CPOD, LOD, DPM AND PON, respectively. This indicated that anyonernof the major skin manifestations may be used to identify high risk communities forrncorrelation with both skin snip prevalence and microfilarial load. Furthermore, even lay men canrnbe trained to quickly diagnose it because of its most obvious clinical presentation. Strongrnrelationships also were detected between skin manifestations and socio-economic variables, withrnfarmers and poorer persons in other occupation tending to have more severe skin manifestation.rnIn conclusion, it is recommendable that: a) members of the lower economic strata in general,rnand the indigenous population and farmers in particular be given high priority in onchocerciasisrncontrol programs; b) the PON detection technique, in comparable ecogeographic regions ofrnEthiopia, for rapid screening of communities and mapping of onchocerciasis, be adopted; c)rnselection of 30% nodules which corresponds to a 90% skin snip prevalence in adult populationrncan be used as the most appropriate local criteria for assigning a community as a high priority forrncontrol.rn'