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History of Discovery |
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Onchocerciasis is a parasitical disease caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus. It is predominately found in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and in South Africa. Only when explorers entered these regions, was the disease recognized for the first time. The diseased people were observed to experience blindness of unknown cause as well as scaly, itchy, nodular skin, which was known as kru kru or craw craw in West Africa. (1)
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1874 |
The subcutaneous microfilaria are discovered by John O’Neill, an Irish Naval surgeon, while examining skin-snips from craw-craw patients in Ghana. |
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| 1893 |
Zoologist Rudolf Leuckart first describes the morphology of adult worms in subcutaneous nodules. |
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| 1890 |
Patrick Manson observes and identifies the adult worms. |
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| 1904 |
Emile Brumpt recognizes that the microfilariae come from the adult worms living in subcutaneous nodules and that the infection occurs most commonly along river banks. |
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| 1917 |
Rodolfo Robles publishes findings on a “new disease” from Guatemala associated with subcutaneous nodules, anterior ocular lesions, dermatitis, and microfilariae. |
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| 1920 |
The role of microfilariae in causing skin lesions is established by A. Lacroix and Jean Montpellier. |
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| 1923 |
Scottish parasitologist Breadablane Blacklock working in Sierra Leone, establishes that O. Volvulus (and therefore onchocerciasis) is transmitted by sand flies . |
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1932 |
Jean Hissette describes the link between microfilaria and blindness in the Belgian Congo |
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| Information for this section was compiled from sources (1) and (5) |
