Attack on the Vector of Filariasis in British Guiana

Abstract

ALONG the heavily populated coast of , British Guiana in northern South America, in a strip about 10 miles wide, about 20 percent of the population of more than 500,000 are in- fected with filariasis.When a swelling appears, this condition is known as "elephantiasis.""Big leg" disease is very prevalent in British Guiana, particularly in the capital, Georgetown.It is caused by the filarial parasite Wuchereria bancrofti, which in many parts of the world is transmitted chiefly by the common domestic mosquito, Culex (Culex) pipiens quinquefascia- tus Say, also called Culex (Culex) fatigans Wiedemann and Culex (Culex) pipiens fati¬ gans.This mosquito is also common in the United States.Forty years ago it transmitted filariasis in the southern United States (1), especially in the southeast, but gradually the disease died out because of the diminished num¬ ber of human reservoirs or carriers.Two other types of filariasis occur in British Guiana, primarily in the native South Ameri¬ can Indians, or Amerindians, who live in the interior of the country.One is acanthocheilo- nemiasis, due to the parasite Acanthocheilonema perstans (Manson) Raillet, Henry, and Langeron, and the other is mansonelliasis or Ozzard's Dr. Burton,