Onchocerca ochengi: Mimic, model or modulator of O. volvulus?
The cattle parasite, Onchocerca ochengi, is widely distributed in West Africa. Significantly, Simulium darnnosum, the vector o f the important human parasite, O. volvulus, the cause o f river blindness, also appears to be the vector of O. ochengi. For epidemiological reasons it is therefore vital to be able to distinguish the infective larvae o f these filoriae. Here, Sandy Trees also describes other features of the cattle parasite that make it of significance to investigations of human filariases.
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, UK L3 5QA.
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Trees