Index >> Eukaryotes Microbes >>Filiariases

Filiariases - The worm of this disease is a thread like nematode Wuchereria bancrofti present in hot, humid climates. The worm breeds in tissues of circulatory system causing extensive inflammation and damage of lymphatic vessels. if the parasite persists longer in body, the legs or scrotum may become swollen and distorted with lymph fluid. A condition called elephantiasis may develop.

The females are about 100 mm long and males about half that length. Within the female, fertilised eggs give tiny eel like embryos called microfilariae. These enter the bloodstream and are ingested by mosquitos during blood meal. They undergo further development in the muscle of the mosquito and are injected back into human during blood meal. The adults are formed in lymph vessels to establish infection.