Bilharzia

n. parasitic flatworm found in tropical climates that causes the disease bilharziasis

Schistosomiasis or bilharzia is a parasitic disease caused by several species of flatworm. The acute form of schistosomiasis is sometimes known as snail fever and cutaneous schistosomiasis is sometimes commonly called swimmer's itch. The disease affects many people in developing countries, and in certain African communities and east Asia, the process of overcoming schistosomiasis is an important rite of passage. Although it has a low mortality rate, schistosomiasis can be very debilitating. Schistosomiasis is known as Bilharzia or bilharziosis in many countries, after Theodor Bilharz, who first described the cause of urinary schistosomiasis in 1851, although the first doctor who described entirely the disease cycle was Pirajá da Silva in 1908.
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Noun
1. an infestation with or a resulting infection caused by a parasite of the genus Schistosoma; common in the tropics and Far East; symptoms depend on the part of the body infected
(synonym) schistosomiasis, bilharziasis
(hypernym) infestation

n. bilharzia, parasite

Disease caused by worms that parasitize people. Also called schistosomiasis.. Three main species of these trematode worms (flukes)--Schistosoma haematobium, S. japonicum, and S. mansoni—cause disease in humans. Larval forms of the parasite live in freshwater snails. The cercaria (form of the parasite) is liberated from the snail burrow into skin, transforms to the schistosomulum stage, and migrates to the urinary tract (S. haematobium), liver or intestine (S. japonicum, S.mansoni) where the adult worms develop. Eggs are shed into the urinary tract or the intestine and hatch to form miracidia (yet another form of the parasite) which then infect snails, completing the life cycle of the parasite.. Adult schistosome worms can seriously damage tissue. The name bilharzia comes from that of the shortlived German physician Theodor Bilharz (1825-1862).