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A survey of bancroftian filariasis among South‐East Asian expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia
Author(s) -
Omar Mohamed S.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.1996.tb00021.x
Subject(s) - wuchereria bancrofti , filariasis , bancroftian filariasis , microfilaria , expatriate , veterinary medicine , culex , vector (molecular biology) , biology , medicine , helminths , geography , immunology , ecology , larva , recombinant dna , biochemistry , archaeology , gene
Summary In a survey of bancroftian filariasis among expatriate workers from five South‐East Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines) where human filariasis is endemic, 762 individuals were examined in the Abha area (Asir) of south‐western Saudi Arabia. A prevalence of microfilaraemia of 3.5% and a mean mf density of 6.0/20 mm 3 of blood was found among 259 Indian males only. In three out of 9 microfilaraemic cases, clinical signs suggestive of filariasis were observed. The only species identified was Wuchereria bancrofti showing strict nocturnal periodicity. Preliminary laboratory studies on the susceptibility of local mosquitoes to infection with W. bancrofti in which laboratory‐bred Culex (C.) pipiens was fed directly on a microfilaraemic volunteer from Madras, South India, revealed that this species was highly susceptible to the Madras strain of the parasite with an average infection rate of 57 (range 41–75)% and a worm burden of 3.5 L 3 /infective mosquito. This is the first report that local Cx. pipiens mosquitoes may act as a potential vector of introduced bancroftian filariasis in Saudi Arabia. The potential danger of bancroftian filariasis importation and, more importantly, the establishment of new self‐sustained foci of the disease is likely to depend upon the abundance of mf carriers and density of vector mosquitoes feeding on carriers.