Brugia timori is a human filarial

Filariasis

Filariasis is a parasitic disease and is considered an infectious tropical disease, that is caused by thread-like nematodes belonging to the superfamily Filarioidea, also known as "filariae"....

 parasitic nematode

Nematode

The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...

 (roundworm) which causes the disease "Timor filariasis

Filariasis

Filariasis is a parasitic disease and is considered an infectious tropical disease, that is caused by thread-like nematodes belonging to the superfamily Filarioidea, also known as "filariae"....

." While this disease was first described in 1965, the identity of Brugia timori as the causative agent was not known until 1977. In that same year, Anopheles barbirostris was shown to be its primary vector.

Characteristics of Brugia timori

The microfilariae of Brugia timori are longer and morphologically distinct from those of Brugia malayi and Wuchereria bancrofti, with a cephalic space length-to-width ratio of about 3:1. Also, the sheath of B. timori does not stain pink with Giemsa stain as is observed with B. malayi and W. bancrofti.

Brugia timori filariasis

Like other human filariasis

Filariasis

Filariasis is a parasitic disease and is considered an infectious tropical disease, that is caused by thread-like nematodes belonging to the superfamily Filarioidea, also known as "filariae"....

 infections, Brugia timori filariasis causes acute fever

Fever

Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...

 and chronic lymphedema

Lymphedema

Lymphedema , also known as lymphatic obstruction, is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system....

. The life cycle of Brugia timori is very similar to that of Wuchereria bancrofti

Wuchereria bancrofti

Filaria, is a parasitic filarial nematode spread by a mosquito vector. It is one of the three parasites that cause lymphatic filariasis, an infection of the lymphatic system by filarial worms. It affects over 120 million people, primarily in Africa, South America, and other tropical and...

and Brugia malayi

Brugia malayi

Brugia malayi is a nematode , one of the three causative agents of lymphatic filariasis in humans. Lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis, is a condition characterized by swelling of the lower limbs. The two other filarial causes of lymphatic filariasis are Wuchereria bancrofti and...

, leading to nocturnal periodicity of the disease symptoms.

So far Brugia timori has only been found in the Lesser Sunda Islands

Lesser Sunda Islands

The Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara are a group of islands in the southern Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands...

 of Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. It is locally confined to areas inhabited by its mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

 vector, which breeds in rice fields. One study of the prevalence of infection in Mainang village, Alor Island, found microfilariae in the blood of 157 of 586 individuals (27%), with 77 of them (13%) exhibiting lymphedema of the leg.

Treatment

Anthelmintics such as diethylcarbamazine

Diethylcarbamazine

Diethylcarbamazine is an anthelmintic drug that does not resemble other antiparasitic compounds. It is a synthetic organic compound which is highly specific for several parasites and does not contain any toxic metallic elements.-Uses:...

 and albendazole

Albendazole

Albendazole, marketed as Albenza, Eskazole, Zentel and Andazol, is a member of the benzimidazole compounds used as a drug indicated for the treatment of a variety of worm infestations. Although this use is widespread in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved...

 have shown promise in the treatment of Brugia timori filariasis. Some researchers are confident that Brugia timori filariasis may be an eradicable disease

Eradication of infectious diseases

Eradication is the reduction of an infectious disease's prevalence in the global host population to zero. It is sometimes confused with elimination, which describes either the reduction of an infectious disease's prevalence in a regional population to zero, or the reduction of the global prevalence...

.

External links

• http://www.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2006/Lymphatic_filariasis/Introduction.htm
• http://www.nematodes.org/fgn/pnb/brugtim.html
• http://www.dhpe.org/infect/Lymphfil.html