ACID-PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY IN LARVAL STAGES OF ONCHOCERCA-VOLVULUS DEVELOPING IN VECTOR SIMULIUM DAMNOSUM

Abstract

The staining patterns of acid phosphatase activity of the various larval stages of O. volvulus from experimentally infected S. damnosum s.l. were described. Enzyme activity was localized in the anal vesicle/pore area of the 1st-stage larva, in the anal vesicle and intestine of the 2nd-stage larva and all over the body in the 3rd-stage larva. Early 3rd-stage larvae could be differentiated from late 3rd-stage infective larvae by the presence of pronounced enzyme activity in the rectum area of the former. There were no detectable differences in the staining patterns between the forest and Sudan-savanna strains of O. volvulus developing in S. damnosum.