Evening star., 1952-09-29
Mosquito Found Bearer
Of South Sea MuIudy
Jungle Insect Gives Men Legs
Like Those Of Elephants
By Thomos R. Henry

The mosquito that gives men legs like
elephants has been traced to its lair by
Navy doctors.
1t is abundant over the South Pacific
islands. Its bite causes the disease
known as filariaSis which, in its extreme
manifestation, results in grossly enlarged
limbs. Hundreds Of soldiers. especially
Marines. got the malady during the war.
although none in its mutilating form.
Study Of the peculiarities of the mos
quito responsible for its transmission.
carried out in Samoa, has revealed
enough. according to q report Of Drs.
G. F. Otto and L. A. Jachowski, jr., OF
Johns Hopkins University, Navy medical
consultants, to point the way to it's ulti-
mate elimination.
The mosquito itself, it was found.
becomes infected and capable of trans
m1tting the disease only after it
has bitten some human being already
infected. This mosquito transmits to its
victims immature forms Of tiny para
site worm which invades the lymph
carrying system of the body.
Worm Kills or Mosquitoes.
One popularity is that this worm is
fatal to the mosquito itself. A curious
finding is that when the causatiye
organisms are eliminated from the
people Of an area by new drugs-which
have only temporary effect-the mos
quito population Of the region starts to
increase.
The studies in Samoa show that this
particular mosquito. unlike the varieties
that transmit malaria and yellow fever.
is exclusively a jungle-dwelling insect
and almost never comes into clearing.
or especially q native house.
Incidence Of the disease was found
greatly affected by the form Of the
native villages. The larger of these are
built around a clearing, somewhat like
an English or New England village green,
with various outbuildings and pigpens
behind each house. These outbuildings
extend to the edge of the jungle. In
such villages there was relatively little
OF the disease. -
Only when the people ventured into
the jungle was there much likelihood Of
being bitten. :
Houses Close to jungle,
In the other type of village the dwell
ing houses. themselves, backed up di-
fectly against the jungle. Here tha
mcloence OF flariasis was quite high.
Ihe average Samoan usually stays in
the mouse at night and during the
neat OF the day. He customariIy is
ABROAD only in the early morning or late
afternoon, when working on his planta-
tlon or travelling to other villages.
These are just the hours when this
mosquito is abroad. Like the native. it
sleeps at night and during NEST of the
day.
Thus the habits Of the Samoans feed
Ing times Of the mosquitoes and charac-
teristics Of the disease all combine to
form ideal conditions for the spread of
the infection.
Viewed against this background, the
two doctors report. control procedures
take on an entirely different aspect
from those which have been effective in
control Of other mosquito-carried dis
eases transmitted by night biting. house,
haunting mosquitoes. No good could be
expected by spraying of houses, or stag
: nant pools in clearings.
Spraying Clears Small Island.
Some success was obtained by spray
ing one entire small island at two-week
intervals for four months. The contour
OF this island happened to be ideal for
the purpose and the insects apparently
were eliminated. Spraying of larger
island in the same way resulted only
in temporary benefit. 80.
There Is some possibility, the doctors
report. Of getting rid of the disease by
two new drugs. arsenamide and hetrazan.
Experiments with these have heen made
with the Fita Fita guards, Samoan unit
Of the Naval Reserve. There has been
. dramatic disappearance Of the worm
like organisms from the blood, but
these have reappeared within q year
and. on the whole. the treatment has
been somewhat disappointing.