filaria

(pl. filariae) any of the long threadlike nematode worms that, as adults, are parasites of human connective and lymphatic tissues capable of causing disease. They include the genera BRUGIA , LOA , ONCHOCERCA , and WUCHERERIA . Filariae differ from the intestinal nematodes ( see HOOKWORM ) in that they undergo part of their development in the body of a blood-sucking insect, e.g. a mosquito, on which they subsequently depend for their transmission to another human host. See also MICROFILARIA . - filarial adj.