Bancroft's threadworm - Wuchereria bancrofti

Japanese: バンクロフト糸状虫 - バンクロフトしじょうちゅう（英語表記）Wuchereria bancrofti

A type of filarial worm that is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical coastal areas, and is found in Okinawa and southern Kyushu in Japan. It was described by the British physician J. Bancroft (1836-94). Females are 7-10 cm long, and males are 2-5 cm long. Females are ovoviviparous, and the larvae are wrapped in a thin egg membrane inside the uterus. When the female is born, this egg membrane stretches to the shape of the larvae's body and becomes a sheath. These sheathed larvae are called microfilariae. Microfilariae that enter the bloodstream via the lymphatic system enter the mosquito's body when it bites the blood of the intermediate host, the mosquito, and develop and molt repeatedly to become mature larvae. When a mosquito carrying these infected larvae bites a human, they enter the human body, develop in the lymphatic system, become adults, and parasitize the lymphatic system and lymph nodes.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

糸状虫類の一種で，広く熱帯，亜熱帯の海岸地帯に分布し，日本では沖縄や九州南部にみられる。イギリスの医師 J.バンクロフト (1836～94) が記載した。雌虫は7～10cm，雄虫は2～5cm。雌虫は卵胎生で，その子宮内に薄い卵膜で包まれた幼虫が入っていて，生れるとき，この卵膜が幼虫の体形に伸びて鞘になる。この被鞘幼虫をミクロフィラリアと呼ぶ。リンパ流を経て血流中に入ったミクロフィラリアは，中間宿主であるカに吸血されたときカの体内に侵入し，発育脱皮を繰返して成熟幼虫となる。この感染幼虫を保有するカがヒトを刺すと人体に入り，リンパ管で発育して成虫となり，リンパ管およびリンパ節内に寄生する。

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