Specimen image via iDigBio
Dracunculus medinensis
Sign in to saveAlso known as Guinea worm, Gordius medinensis, dragon worm, fiery serpent
species of nematode
Species
SPECIES
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumNematoda
- ClassChromadorea
- OrderRhabditida
- FamilyDracunculidae
麦地那龙线虫（學名：Dracunculus medinensis），又稱幾內亞龍線蟲，是一種可寄生於人體內的寄生蟲，屬於線蟲的龍線蟲屬（英语：Dracunculus_(nematode)），可引起麥地那龍線蟲病。這種蟲可引起麦地那龙线虫病，病徵有疼痛、腫脹、甚或可導致喪失勞動能力。這種病是由本物種的雌性生物引起，是同屬生物中可感染人類的最長物種。相比起來，本物種的雄性同類的體形細小得多。根據2009年的紀錄，本物種的雌性生物的最長紀錄是800 mm（31英寸），而其雄性紀錄則只有40 mm（1.6英寸）。 雖然這種生物在地球上存活了可能接近一百萬年，但要直到1980年代，因應卡特中心的興建，對於因為這種線蟲所引起病變的防治才開始。透過教育，居民知道這種病乃透過飲用含有蟲卵的不潔食水而引起。一旦染病，病者需要隔離，並為他們提供支援。而透過為居民建造輸水管道來提供潔淨食水，加上教育配合，可有效減低病發率。
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 33
- With media
- 4
- Family
- Dracunculidae
- Collections
- USNM, QM, GNM, NHMUK, YPM, UPS
- Recorded in
- United States, Canada, China, Sudan, Ghana, Fiji, India, Australia
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Dracunculus
- Named after
- Medina
- Image
- Dracunculus medinensis larvae.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- taxon name
- Dracunculus medinensis
- taxon rank
- species
- Commons category
- Dracunculus medinensis
- taxon common name
- 메디나충
- has host
- copepod
- has effect
- dracunculiasis
- short name
- D. medinensis
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm, dragon worm, fiery serpent) is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at around 80 centimetres (31 inches) in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. The length of specimens exhibits extreme sexual dimorphism, as the longest recorded male Guinea worm is only 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in).
Guinea worm disease is on target to be the second infectious disease of humans to be eradicated, after smallpox, and the D. medinensis species would be made extinct to accomplish it. It was formerly endemic to a wide swath of Africa and Eurasia; as of 2023, it remains endemic in five countries: Chad, Mali, South Sudan, Angola and Ethiopia, with most cases in Chad. Guinea worm spread to Angola c. 2018, and it is considered endemic there. Infection of domestic dogs is a serious complication in Chad.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dracunculus medinensis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.