"Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease caused by the filorial worm, Onchocerca Volvulus." (apps.who.int) This disease is transmitted through the bite of an infected black fly. These flies carry the larval form of the disease, once bitten the parasite enters the body and forms nodules in the subcutaneous tissues where they began their growth process in to adult worms. "After mating, the female adult worm can release up to 1000 microfiloria a day." (app.who.int) As these microfliloria move through the body, their deaths are what causes the conditions in which the infected suffer from. These conditions include blindness, skin rashes, lesions, intense itching, and skin depigmentation. The only way to prevent oncherciasis is to destroy the source of the problem. Many measures are being taken, such as, spraying the blackflies breading sites with insecticide and treating the sick as early as possible.
Work Cited
No comments:
Post a Comment