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Onchocerca
(ong″ko-surĀ“kә)
a genus of parasitic filaria. O. vol′vulus is a common parasite of humans, breeding in fast-flowing rivers and streams in tropical parts of the Americas and equatorial
Africa, particularly West Africa. It is the etiologic agent of human onchocerciasis and is transmitted by the bites of blackflies (buffalo gnats) of the genus Simulium, in which the parasite passes part of its life cycle.

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