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A parasitic worm commonly found in sub-saharan Africa is responsible for visual impairment, skin itching and in severe cases blindness. River Blindness affects 37 million people and is transmitted by a blackfly which breed in rivers. The worm survives by using bacteria to transfer into energy and it fools the bodys immune system into thinking it is trying to fight a different infection. This is the latest insight into how River Blindness is spread further to research completed by the University of Liverpool.
The team at Liverpool investigated a bacteria carried by the worm, called A bacteria named Wolbachia was put under scrutiny and it was found that if removed by antibiotics the adult worm dies. The question of why the worm relies on the bacterium to survive was the area of study undertaken, the scientists sequenced the genome of Wolbachia from a related parasite found in cattle.
What did they find?
Well they discovered that the worm is provided with energy from the bacteria via a process that needs oxygen and iron akin to cell energy processes in humans. The body has difficulty fighting the disease because the bacteria s 'trick' the immune response into thinking it is dealing with a bacterial rather than an actual worm infection.
As a result of the study it is hoped that scientists will be able to target drugs at disabling the bacteria's energy-giving properties thereby reducing the treatment process for River Blindness. Vaccine development is also hoped to be forthcoming as we understand the bacteria's ability to misdirect the human immune response.