Radiological Detection of Dracunculus medinensis

Dracunculus Medinensis

Etymologia: Dracunculus medinensis

Possible Role of Fish and Frogs as Paratenic Hosts of Dracunculus medinensis, Chad

Copepods infected with Dracunculus medinensis larvae collected from infected dogs in Chad were fed to 2 species of fish and tadpoles. Although they readily ingested copepods, neither species of fish, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) nor fathead minnow (Pimephalis promelas), were found to harbor Dracunculus larvae when examined 2-3 weeks later. Tadpoles ingested copepods much more slowly; ho...

Guinea Worm (Dracunculus medinensis) Infection in a Wild-Caught Frog, Chad

A third-stage (infective) larva of Dracunculus medinensis, the causative agent of Guinea worm disease, was recovered from a wild-caught Phrynobatrachus francisci frog in Chad. Although green frogs (Lithobates clamitans) have been experimentally infected with D. medinensis worms, our findings prove that frogs can serve as natural paratenic hosts.

Immunoepidemiology of Dracunculus medinensis infections I. Antibody responses in relation to infection status.

The specific serum IgG1, IgG4, and IgE responses to Dracunculus medinensis and the level of total IgE of individuals living in a highly endemic area of northern Ghana were measured by ELISA. Sera were obtained in the high transmission season from individuals with prepatent, patent, or postpatent infection as well as from individuals from the same endemic area who claimed to have never had a pat...