Information: - A parasitic disease, also known as parasitosis, is an infectious disease caused or transmitted by a parasite. Many parasites do not cause diseases. Parasitic diseases can affect practically all living organisms, including plants and mammals. The study of parasitic diseases is called parasitology. - Filariasis ( or philariasis ) is a parasitic disease caused by an infection with roundworms of the Filarioidea type . These are spread by blood - feeding black flies and mosquitoes . This disease belongs to the group of diseases called helminthiasis . Eight known filarial nematodes use humans as their definitive hosts . These are divided into three groups according to the niche within the body they occupy : Lymphatic filariasis is caused by the worms Wuchereria bancrofti , Brugia malayi , and Brugia timori . These worms occupy the lymphatic system , including the lymph nodes ; in chronic cases , these worms lead to the disease elephantiasis . Subcutaneous filariasis is caused by Loa loa ( the eye worm ) , Mansonella streptocerca , and Onchocerca volvulus . These worms occupy the subcutaneous layer of the skin , in the fat layer . L. loa causes Loa loa filariasis , while O. volvulus causes river blindness . Serous cavity filariasis is caused by the worms Mansonella perstans and Mansonella ozzardi , which occupy the serous cavity of the abdomen . The adult worms , which usually stay in one tissue , release early larval forms known as microfilariae into the host 's bloodstream . These circulating microfilariae can be taken up with a blood meal by the arthropod vector ; in the vector , they develop into infective larvae that can be transmitted to a new host . Individuals infected by filarial worms may be described as either '' microfilaraemic '' or '' amicrofilaraemic '' , depending on whether microfilariae can be found in their peripheral blood . Filariasis is diagnosed in microfilaraemic cases primarily through direct observation of microfilariae in the peripheral blood . Occult filariasis is diagnosed in amicrofilaraemic cases based on clinical observations and , in some cases , by finding a circulating antigen in the blood . - Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life. This means it forms a synthesis of other disciplines, and draws on techniques from fields such as cell biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, genetics, evolution and ecology. Given the information above, choose from the list below the object entity that exhibits the relation 'medical specialty' with the subject 'filariasis'. Choices: - genetics - infection - infectious disease
Answer:
infectious disease