Tropical areas of the world are heavily ravaged by the burdens of parasitic diseases. While malaria attracts much of the attention, there are still unreasonable burdens placed on communities by other filarial infections such as Onchocerciasis. Recently, there have been effective strategies used to eradicate Dracunculus medinensis from almost all endemic areas. Both Onchocerca and Dracunculus are nematodes they are radially symmetrical, have three tissue layers, and have a hydrostatic skeleton. Both genera are members of the class Secernentea, parasitic nematodes with a spear shaped head to pierce their future hosts. Despite the similarities between the two species most overall strategies used to effectively eradicate dracunculiasis cannot be
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Onchocerca volvulus is a parasitic worm endemic to West Africa that migrated to some parts of South America during the slave trade. This worm is the disease causing agent in onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness. As an obligate parasite the life cycle of O. volvulus follows from one organism to another. To start, an individual microfilaria will be born living in an infected human host. This infected human must then be bit by a day biting blackfly of the genus Simulium. The microfilaria then migrate through the body of the fly to the flight muscles where they develop into an infectious stage of the larvae. The blackfly will be infectious for about one and a half weeks; when the blackfly lands on a human to inflict another bite it can deposit the larvae nearby. The larvae will migrate into the open skin and infect the human. Once there they will migrate through the blood to a target destination under the skin. Soon after infection the worms will become encapsulated in fibrous nodules where they are shielded from immune response. There the female will begin to produce …show more content…
However, the method of infection is very different. The larvae of Dracunculus medinensis is not born in the body of the human host. When the adult female guinea worm is ready to reproduce, usually about one year after infection, it causes a blister to the host. This blister is accompanied by a burning sensation that causes the host to put its foot into water for pain relief. Once there the female worm erupts through the skin and releases larvae into the water. These larvae are then eaten by a small crustacean called a copepod. This copepod is a free swimming crustacean that lives in natural water sources, and when that water is consumed without a filter the consumer will be consuming the infected copepod with it. The copepods cannot survive in the digestive tract, and upon death the D medinensis larvae will emerge from their now dead host. These larvae will then penetrate the stomach or intestinal wall of their new host and will mature under the skin. As these worms grow and mature they will begin to reproduce starting the cycle of infection anew. Generally people with Dracunculiasis will not experience any symptoms until the worms mature. When they are symptomatic they general present with fever, rash, gastrointestinal distress, and dizziness. Then, when the mature female worms in the patient are ready to reproduce they will cause the tell-tale blister over several days and burst forth when they
Onchocerca volvulus is a parasitic worm endemic to West Africa that migrated to some parts of South America during the slave trade. This worm is the disease causing agent in onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness. As an obligate parasite the life cycle of O. volvulus follows from one organism to another. To start, an individual microfilaria will be born living in an infected human host. This infected human must then be bit by a day biting blackfly of the genus Simulium. The microfilaria then migrate through the body of the fly to the flight muscles where they develop into an infectious stage of the larvae. The blackfly will be infectious for about one and a half weeks; when the blackfly lands on a human to inflict another bite it can deposit the larvae nearby. The larvae will migrate into the open skin and infect the human. Once there they will migrate through the blood to a target destination under the skin. Soon after infection the worms will become encapsulated in fibrous nodules where they are shielded from immune response. There the female will begin to produce …show more content…
However, the method of infection is very different. The larvae of Dracunculus medinensis is not born in the body of the human host. When the adult female guinea worm is ready to reproduce, usually about one year after infection, it causes a blister to the host. This blister is accompanied by a burning sensation that causes the host to put its foot into water for pain relief. Once there the female worm erupts through the skin and releases larvae into the water. These larvae are then eaten by a small crustacean called a copepod. This copepod is a free swimming crustacean that lives in natural water sources, and when that water is consumed without a filter the consumer will be consuming the infected copepod with it. The copepods cannot survive in the digestive tract, and upon death the D medinensis larvae will emerge from their now dead host. These larvae will then penetrate the stomach or intestinal wall of their new host and will mature under the skin. As these worms grow and mature they will begin to reproduce starting the cycle of infection anew. Generally people with Dracunculiasis will not experience any symptoms until the worms mature. When they are symptomatic they general present with fever, rash, gastrointestinal distress, and dizziness. Then, when the mature female worms in the patient are ready to reproduce they will cause the tell-tale blister over several days and burst forth when they