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onchocerciasis: Health Search Results from the Invisible Web

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:: Definition Search results last updated: 9/12/2008

onchocerciasis - Definition: (Source: MedicineNet)

Onchocerciasis: River blindness, a disease caused by a parasitic worm (Onchocerca volvulus ) which is transmitted to persons by biting blackflies (buffalo gnats) that breed in fast-flowing rivers. The adult worms can live for up to 15 years in nodules beneath the skin and in the muscles of infected persons, where they produce millions of worm embryos (microfilariae) that invade the skin and other tissues including the eyes. About 18 million persons are affected, mostly in Africa and also in Yemen and Latin America. Both living and dead microfilariae cause severe itching in the skin and sometimes blindness after many years. ...
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