Statement of the Illness/Disease

Elephantiasis, or Lymphatic Filariasis, is a disease of the lymphatic system attributed to excessive growth of the infected area. The disease caused by parasitic worms, all of which are carried by mosquitoes, and the worms inflame the lymphatic vessels, thus causing the infected area to harden and resemble the skin of an elephant. Symptoms of elephantiasis include severe edema usually located in the legs or the genitals with ulcerated and darkened skin. Often times, fever and headache accompany the edemic growth. Elephantiasis primarily and almost exclusively affects African nations, save or some other tropical and Asian countries. Therefore, people of African ethnicity, who live in Africa of course, are the group most affected by elephantiasis in the world.