Attack on Elephantiasis: Antibiotic offers weapon against tropical scourge

Of all the exotic diseases that afflict people, elephantiasis ranks among the most dreaded. The threadlike, parasitic worm that causes this lethal disease makes nests in a person’s lymph system. The result is fever, skin lesions, and swelling of the legs and genitalia. In rural Africa, where many cases occur, people with the disease are “unable to carry out their livelihood and are shunned by society,” says Mark J.