The filarial worm larvae block the fine lymphatic tubules that collect tissue fluid from all over the body and return it to the blood stream. Most cases are due to one species, Wuchereria bancrofti, transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. The disease once known as elephantiasis because of the appearance of infected limbs (Figure 8) is properly called lymphatic filariasis.
The diseases they cause are all vector-borne, transmitted when a biting invertebrate transfers microscopic worm larvae (around 300 micrometres long) to a human host as it takes a blood meal.
3.5.3 Filarial worms, elephantiasis and river blindnessĪdult filarial worms are thread-like parasites measuring 40–100 millimetres in length, whose description ‘filarial’ comes from the Latin for filament.
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