The biology, veterinary importance and control of certain Nematocera are described and discussed. Culicoides spp. (family Ceratopogonidae) transmit the arboviruses of bluetongue (BT), African horse sickness (AHS), bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) and Akabane. Some other arboviruses have been isolated from these species, while fowl pox has been transmitted experimentally by Culicoides. These insects...

Mylohyoid and anterior belly of the digastric muscles are supplied by a branch from the inferior alveolar nerve called the mylohyoid branch. Here we present an unusual finding in a 60-year-old male cadaver in which the mylohyoid muscle is supplied by a branch from hypoglossal nerve in addition to its usual nerve supply. Hypoglossal nerve after giving superior root of the ansa cervicalis and mus...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS We investigated the clinical efficacy of free nerve grafts in bridging gaps between the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and ansa cervicalis in patients with unilateral RLN injury. STUDY DESIGN We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 14 patients who underwent relevant free nerve grafting and assessed the clinical outcomes of this procedure. METHODS Between January 200...

A 65-year-old male with known hypertension and hypercholesterolemia sought medical attention because of a 3-month history of skin swelling on his upper back. Histopathology and molecular techniques were employed and identified an organism in the Onchocerca genus. This represents a very uncommon example of cutaneous infection by a zoonotic Onchocerca species.

Microfilariae of five Onchocerca species, O. dewittei japonica (the causative agent of zoonotic onchocerciasis in Oita, Kyushu, Japan) from wild boar (Sus scrofa), O. skrjabini and O. eberhardi from sika deer (Cenus nippon), O. tienalis from cattle, and an as yet unnamed Onchocerca sp. from wild boar, were injected intrathoracically into newly-emerged black flies of several species from Oita to...

adenylate kinases (adk) are ubiquitous enzymes that contribute to the homeostasis of adeninenucleotides in living cells. in this study, the cloning of a cdna encoding an adenylate kinase from the filariaonchocerca volvulus has been described. using pcr technique, a 281 bp cdna fragment encoding part ofan adenylate kinase was isolated from an o. volvulus cdna library. use of this fragment as a p...

The epidemiological model ONCHOSIM--a model and computer simulation program for the transmission and control of onchocerciasis--has been used to determine the range of plausible values for the reproductive lifespan of Onchocerca volvulus. Model predictions based on different lifespan quantifications were compared with the results of longitudinal skin-snip surveys undertaken in 4 reference villa...

We describe 11 cases of suspected Dracunculus medinensis infection in which the worm recovered was identified as Onchocerca volvulus. Identification was based on morphology of the examined specimen.