A biology graduate student who recently visited a tropical region of Africa presents with new visual impairment and the sensation that something is moving in her eye. She tells you that she is concerned because she had been warned about eye disease transmitted by black flies. When in Africa, she was in a river area, and despite her best effos she received a lot of black fly bites. She also has some subcutaneous nodules. If her infection was acquired by black fly bite, what is the most likely causative agent?
High-Yield Explanation
Onchocerca volvulus causes river blindness and is transmitted by the bite of a black fly. The patient may be able to detect movement in the eye. Ancylostoma braziliense -hookworm not associated with eye infection Trichinella spiralis-not associated with eye infection. infection by ingestion Dracunculus medinensis- infection by drinking water from stagnant pool, present with papule