Identification of a common filarial larva in Simulium damnosum s l (Type D, Duke, 1967) as Onchocerca ramachandrini from the wart hog

Filarial larvae resembling Type D (Duke, 1967), which are common in the Simulium damnosum s.l. vectors of human onchocerciasis (''riverblindness'') in several parts of West Africa, were dissected from wild-caught flies in north Cameroon and examined morphologically. This was done in order to establish a possible synonymy with infective larvae (L3) of 2 recently discovered Onchocerca species of wart hogs (Onchocerca ramachandrini Bain, Wahl, and Renz, 1993 and Onchocera sp. Wahl and Bain, 1995), which has been found to resemble Type D. After dissection of approximately 1,700 S. damnosum s.l., 13 Type D-like larvae were recovered from 12 infected flies. Their morphology corresponded to O. ramachandrini.