Category:Filarioidea

This article is still under construction.

The filarial worms are of great importance in human medicine in the tropics, causing diseases such as elephantitis and river blindness, but their veterinary interest is limited - with the important exception of Dirofilaria, the canine heartworm, which is a major cause of morbidity and death in warmer, humid regions (including parts of the USA, Australia, southern Europe etc.).

General Appearance

• Non-bursate
• Typically, they are long (up to 12cm or more), but filamentous
• Live in connective tissues
  • The most important veterinary species is Dirofilaria immitis which lives in the right heart and pulmonary arteries

General Life-Cycle

• The females of most species do not produce eggs, but instead they produce motile embryos (microfilariae)
• Female worm → microfilariae → accumulate in blood or tissue fluid

→ taken up by biting arthropod intermediate host

→ L1 → L2 → L3

→ enters wound

→ larvae develop and migrate to predilection site in final host

<ncl style=bullet maxdepth=5 headings=bullet headstart=2 showcats=1 showarts=1>Category:Filarioidea</ncl>