Filariasis in West Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia

A survey was carried out among persons residing in 8 villages in the Province of West Kalimantan, Indonesia to determine the prevalence of filariasis. Finger tip blood smears were obtained at night from over 3,000 people and microfilariae of Brugia malayi were found in 108 (3.5%) and Wuchereria bancrofti in 10 (0.3%). Most B. malayi (96 carriers) was found in Kakap, a village near the coast, 20 km from the provincial capital of Pontianak. Nine of 10 cases of W. bancrofti were located in Pahauman, a village 130 km northeast of the provincial capital. Periodicity studies indicate the strain of B. malayi to be subperiodic. In Kakap 18% of 226 persons examined had a clinical history of filariasis and elephantiasis was seen in 13%. This is the first report of rural bancroftian filariasis in the area. A few Mansonia species of mosquitoes were examined but none were infected with filarial larvae.