DNA-based detection of onchocerca volvulus.

During the 1980s, the idea of using deoxyribonucleic acid probes for specific identification and diagnosis of infectious agents became very fashionable. There was therefore an explosion in the development of these tools and one particular group of organisms which received much attention was the parasitic nematodes. This review traces the development and use of such probes with the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus, with emphasis on their application to resolving certain 'problems' associated with this parasite, e.g. whether or not strains exist and difficulties in distinguishing the infective larval stage morphologically from related species.