Armillifer grandis

Armillifer grandis is a species of the pentastomid genus Armillifer distributed in tropical Central and West Africa.[1] Its typical definitive hosts are viperid snakes (such as Bitis gabonica, Bitis nasicornis, and Cerastes cerastes), while rodents are presumed to act as intermediate hosts. Humans may become accidentally infected by the eggs, particularly if consuming (or otherwise contacting) infected snakes. Ingested eggs develop into nymphs that invade different visceral organs, causing a disease that is often called porocephalosis. Most human infections are asymptomatic, some are debilitating, or rarely even lethal.[2] Abdominal infections are more widespread, but typically undiagnosed,[3] while ocular manifestations are rare[4] and may cause blindness.[5]

Armillifer grandis
adult specimens in Bitis nasicornis at a rural bushmeat market, DR Congo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Maxillopoda
Subclass:
Pentastomida
Order:
Porocephalida
Family:
Porocephalidae
Genus:
Armillifer
Species:
A. grandis
Binomial name
Armillifer grandis
(Hett, 1915)
A nymph (=larva) removed from the eye of a blind patient

Most of the vipers sold for human consumption at the rural bushmeat markets in the DR Congo host A. grandis.[6]

References
  1. Christoffersen ML, De Assis JE (2013). "A systematic monograph of the Recent Pentastomida, with a compilation of their host". Zoologische Mededelingen. 87: 1–206. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.734.4592.
  2. Tappe, Dennis; Büttner, Dietrich W.; Bethony, Jeffrey M. (24 February 2009). "Diagnosis of Human Visceral Pentastomiasis". PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 3 (2): e320. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000320. PMC 2643528. PMID 19238218.
  3. Tappe, Dennis; Sulyok, Mihály; Rózsa, Lajos; Muntau, Birgit; Haeupler, Alexandra; Bodó, Imre; Hardi, Richard; Fenwick, B. W. (July 2015). "Molecular Diagnosis of Abdominal Armillifer grandis Pentastomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo". Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 53 (7): 2362–2364. doi:10.1128/JCM.00336-15. PMC 4473205. PMID 25948609.
  4. Sulyok, Mihály; Rózsa, Lajos; Bodó, Imre; Tappe, Dennis; Hardi, Richard (24 July 2014). "Ocular Pentastomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo". PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 8 (7): e3041. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003041. PMC 4109912. PMID 25058608.
  5. Hardi, R; Sulyok, M; Rózsa, L; Bodó, I (1 August 2013). "A Man With Unilateral Ocular Pain and Blindness". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 57 (3): 418, 469–70. doi:10.1093/cid/cit309. PMID 23833277.
  6. Hardi, Richard; Babocsay, Gergely; Tappe, Dennis; Sulyok, Mihály; Bodó, Imre; Rózsa, Lajos (13 October 2017). "Armillifer-Infected Snakes Sold at Congolese Bushmeat Markets Represent an Emerging Zoonotic Threat". EcoHealth. 14 (4): 743–749. doi:10.1007/s10393-017-1274-5. PMC 7088293. PMID 29030787.


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