A method for the selective recovery of living microfilariae from Onchocerca volvulus nodules is described. The microfilariae migrate through solidified agar gel into overlayering Hanks balanced salt solution (HBSS). The highest recovery rates of the worms were obtained with 0.3 and 0.4% agar. Optimal conditions for in vitro cultures of the larvae in HBSS were established; pH range 7.0-7.5, gluc...

Biological samples were collected from dogs in resource-limited communities in the North-West and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa to assess the prevalence of helminth parasitism. These samples included adhesive tape peri-anal skin swabs and fresh faecal samples for helminth examination, and thick and thin blood films (smears) and whole-blood samples in anticoagulant for examination of filaria...

Filariasis is a disabling parasitic disease and it constitutes as a major health problem in most of the tropical and sub-tropical countries. One hundred and twenty million people in at least 80 tropical and sub-tropical countries are infected with lymphatic filarial parasite, with one billion people being at risk of the disease. The laboratory diagnosis of filariasis is conventionally made by d...

This study assesses the ecological factors associated with microfilariae prevalence in wild populations of endangered flightless cormorants (Phalacrocorax harrisi) and Galápagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus). Prevalence values were tested for correlation with a large number of environmental variables, as modeled from weather station data and measured by satellite-borne sensors. Predictions w...

The effect of the polyamine oxidase (PAO)-polyamine system on some helminths was examined in vitro. Both Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula and Dirofilaria immitis microfilariae were highly sensitive to this system, the latter more so than the former. In contrast, exsheathed third-stage larvae of Nematospiroides dubius were resistant to the effects of the PAO-polyamine system. After incubation o...

The association between onchocerca infection, vision and nutritional status in children aged 5-14 years in an onchocerciasis endemic area in Nigeria was evaluated using pre-ivermectin baseline data. A total of 6950 children in 3 local government areas (LGAs) was examined. The crude prevalence of microfilariae was 27.7% and of nodules 20.6%. The overall intensity was 5.3 ±. 7.6 SD microfilariae ...

THE standard morphological descriptions of microfilarire tend to gloss over several very real difficulties in identification. Satisfactory staining of the dead organism sometimes seems impossible, measurement of distances along the organism (see, e.g., Belding, 1952) is often impractic'able because of its irregular disposition, and the tip of the tail, recognised as the site of certain distinct...

Dirofilaria (Nochtiella) repens is a filarioid parasite that causes subcutaneous dirofilariosis in dogs. Adults, while localized in subcutaneous tissues, lay embryos (microfilariae (mf)) into the blood stream of dogs, which constitute a reservoir for infection of other definitive or accidental hosts as humans. This study was carried out to assess the efficacy of spot-on combination of imidaclop...

Introduction Onchocerciasis, or ‘river-blindness’, is a disease caused by infection with the filarial worm, Onchocerca volvulus. The parasite is transmitted to human hosts by infected female ‘blackflies’, Simulium spp., as they feed on the host’s blood. Whilst feeding, the fly secretes saliva containing infective larvae. These larvae enter the host’s subcutaneous tissue, migrate, and form nodul...

We present a case of mixed infection by two filariae (Loa loa and Mansonella perstans). It seems that the infection was suspected due to a pronounced eosinophilia in a routine analysis. Sheathed and unsheathed microfilariae were observed in the spread of peripheral blood, which enabled a diagnosis to be established of mixed infection by filariae. The definitive diagnosis of the species was carr...