Transmission
Loa loa microfilariae are transmitted to humans by the mango (also, mangrove) or deerfly vectors, Chrysops silicea and C. dimidiata. The vectors are blood-sucking and day-biting, and they are found in rainforest-like environments in west and central Africa. Microfilaria mature to adults in the subcutaneous tissues of the human host, after which the adult worms—assuming presence of a male and female worm—mate and produce more microfilaria. The cycle of infection continues when a non-infected mango or deerfly takes a blood meal from a microfilaremic human host, and this stage of the transmission is possible due to the combination of the diurnal periodicity of microfilaria and the day-biting tendencies of the Chrysops spp.
Read more about this topic: Loa Loa Filariasis