PERIODICITY OF WUCHERERIA-BANCROFTI MICROFILARIAE IN SOUTH WESTERN ETHIOPIA

As pan of a clinical and,epidemiological study of lymphatic filariasis in southwestern Ethiopia the microfilarial density in the blood of tw o male and two female volunteers from the village of Ketch (near the t own of Gambella) was determined every four hours for a 24-hour period using the counting chamber technique. In the blood of the volunteers t he majority of the microfilariae appeared between 20 and 04 hours with peak at 24 hours (range at peak time + 3060-3560 mf/ml blood) depicti ng a nocturnal periodicity of circulating Wuchereria bancrofti microfi lariae. This has important implications for the diagnosis, monitoring and transmission of lymphatic filariasis in the area.