Mosquitos are a prime carrier of filarial worms.
The microscopic filarial worm is responsible for a large number of parasitic worm infestations in humans. While some species of the filarial worm are relatively harmless, others can cause debilitating symptoms when left untreated. One of the more well-known results of filarial worm infestation is elephantiasis, which causes the host's arms and legs to swell enormously.
Description
The filarial worm is a tiny, hair-like parasite that lives mainly in humans, although certain forms of the worm can survive in some animals. There are eight known species of the filarial worm. They live in one of three areas of the body, depending on the species-the area of the lymph node areas, the skin and tissues, and the stomach, lungs and heart. Once it has entered a human host, the filarial worm completes its entire life cycle inside that body.
Entering the Host
The life cycle of the filarial worm begins when a mosquito or other blood-sucking insect injects filarial worm larva into a host body. The larvae then travel to the part of the body that best accommodates them. Once they have reached this area, they spend several months maturing into adult filarial worms. As adults, they live four to six years.
Reproduction
Once the worms reach sexual maturity, they reproduce and form millions of microfilariae, the immature form of the filarial worm. These microfilariae remain dormant during the day and enter the bloodstream at night, when mosquitoes most often bite.
Transfer to a New Host
When a mosquito bites a person infected with filarial worms, it swallows the microfilariae as it takes in blood from the human. The microfilariae remain in the mosquito’s body for one to two weeks while they develop into larvae. Once they reach this stage, they are injected into a new host through another mosquito bite, and the cycle begins again.
Adult Life
The adult worms that remain inside the host’s body continue to inhabit the body’s organs and tissue, causing a variety of symptoms depending on the species. Two of the more destructive problems these worms cause are elephantiasis and river blindness, which occurs when the filarial worm destroys part of the eye. Fortunately, humans do not become infected with filarial worms after a single bite. They must be bitten by an infected insect repeatedly. When a filarial worm infection is identified early, it can usually be treated successfully.
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