Main foci of bancroftian filariasis

Bancroftian lymphatic filariasis is caused by the filaria Nematode Wuchereria bancrofti. The disease is anthroponotic. W. bancrofti (red zones) is distributed worlwide across subtropical areas, especially in Asia where India has the greated world prevalence. W. bancrofti var. pacifica (orange zones) is restricted to South Pacific islands. Vectors are female mosquitoes of genus Aedes, Anopheles, Culex or Mansonia that are exclusively dusk or night-biting, apart in the South Pacific zone. – Diagram realised from a projection of Mercanti –