Human infection with Onchocerca volvulus in Asir district [Saudi Arabia]

During one academic year, three patients were referred to Parasitology Laboratory from Dermatology Outpatients Clinics in King Abdul-Aziz University Hospitals. They were diagnosed as sowda [chronic hyperactive form of Onchocerciasis volvulus]. The lesion was characterized by a severe papule dermatitis localized to the lower limbs with a marked skin darkening. There was an extensive follicular hyperplasia of the regional lymph nodes in two cases only. The skin snips taken from the three patients were positive microfilariae. On the other hand, the urine sample of one patient was positive. Six months after the onset of treatment by the clinicians in the specialized hospital, skin snips and urine samples were negative