What is the morphology of Dracunculus medinensis?
What is the morphology of Dracunculus medinensis?
Dracunculus medinensis is one of the larger nematodes. The female is usually 60 cm in length, and has been reported up to 3 m. The males, which are much smaller, are usually 1.2 to 2.9 cm long. Both male and female worms have a small, triangular mouth surrounded by a quadrangular, sclerotized plate, but no lips.
What type of parasite is Dracunculus medinensis?
Dracunculus medinensis, or Guinea worm, is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease….Dracunculus medinensis.
| Guinea worm | |
|---|---|
| Family: | Dracunculidae |
| Genus: | Dracunculus |
| Species: | D. medinensis |
| Binomial name |
What is the life cycle of Dracunculus medinensis?
After mating, the male worms die, and the females move through tissues under the skin usually to the lower legs or feet. About a year after people are infected, the pregnant female worm comes to the surface of the skin, creating a blister. The blister causes severe, burning discomfort and eventually breaks open. 4.
What is the Dracunculus medinensis and what does it do?
The roundworm, Dracunculus medinensis, causes dracunculiasis or Guinea worm disease. Humans become infected by drinking unfiltered water containing small crustaceans that are infected with larvae of Dracunculus medinensis. The worm emerges from the skin in the middle of an ulcer as a white-looking filament.
How is Dracunculus diagnosed?
Diagnosis. Guinea worm disease is diagnosed through a simple physical exam. Health care providers look for the telltale white, stringy worm poking through the blister once the affected area has been immersed in water.
Where is Dracunculus medinensis found in the body?
| Parasite | Means of Human Infection | Location of Adults in Humans |
|---|---|---|
| Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea Worm) | Ingestion of larvae in infected copepods (Cyclops and others) | Deep connective tissues, subcutaneous tissue, dermis |
What disease is caused by Dracunculus medinensis?
Dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease) is caused by the nematode (roundworm) Dracunculus medinensis.
What is the life cycle of Onchocerca volvulus?
The average adult worm lifespan is 15 years, and mature females can produce between 500 and 1,500 microfilariae per day. The normal microfilarial lifespan is 1.0 to 1.5 years; however, their presence in the bloodstream causes little to no immune response until death or degradation of the microfilariae or adult worms.
What is the incubation period of dracunculiasis?
As the incubation period of the worm takes 10–14 months, a single missed case will delay eradication by a year or more.
Who is most at risk for infection by GWD?
In general, about the same number of men and women get infected. GWD occurs in all age groups but it is most common among young adults 15–45 years old.
How do you control Dracunculus medinensis?
There is no drug to treat Guinea worm disease and no vaccine to prevent infection. Once part of the worm begins to come out of the wound, the rest of the worm can only be pulled out a few centimeters each day by winding it around a piece of gauze or a small stick.
How is Guinea worm disease diagnosed?
How big can a Dracunculus medinensis get?
Morphology of Dracunculus medinensis Dracunculus medinensis (Mehlorn and Armstrong 2001; Matthews 1998) is one of the biggest nematodes known. Adult females can reach a maximum length of up to 800 mm long, but males can only reach a maximum length of 40 mm.
How big are the larvae of the Dracunculus?
First-stage larvae appear as thin white tubular stages measuring up to 400 µ m in length and having a rhabditiform pharynx. The third-stage larvae are longer, measuring up to 600?m in length, and they have a filariform pharynx.
What kind of organ does a larval dracundulus medinensis have?
Larval Dracundulus medinensis are free living, microscopic in size, and resembles free living nematodes. The female worm is covered in three layers of epicuticle and one thick layer of cuticle. Adult female worms have intestines but the organs are thought to be nonfunctional.
Who are the hosts of Dracunculus medinensis?
Dracunculus medinensis has two hosts, copepods and humans. The human is the Guinea worm’s only definitive host and the copepod is its most common intermediate host. Copepod populations fluctuate according to the seasons and because copepods are the primary intermediate host for D. medinensis, the parasite populations also fluctuate accordingly.