WHO世界卫生组织：在美洲世卫组织区域消除河盲症的进展：2024年美洲河盲症国际会议报告（英文版）

Human onchocerciasis (river blindness) is caused by the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus, transmitted by Simulium black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers and streams. In the human host, adult male and female O. volvulus worms become encapsulated in subcutaneous fibrous “nodules”, and fertilized females produce embryonic microfilariae that migrate to the skin, where the black fly vectors ingest them during a blood meal. In the vector, the microfilariae develop into the infectious third