In patients infected with Wuchereria bancrofti, the major causative agent of lymphatic filariasis, those with lymphoedema have significantly enhanced Th1 and Th17 responses and lower Treg levels in comparison to asymptomatically infected individuals,14 while in hyper‐reactive onchocerciasis (river blindness) there is a deficiency in FOXP3+ CD25(high) Tregs.15 This evidence concerns the gene FOXP3 and onchocerciasis.