Elephantiasis is a severely disfiguring and disabling condition in which the arms, legs, or genitals swell so much that they can resemble an elephant's foreleg in size, texture, and color. True elephantiasis is caused by a parasitic infection from three kinds of round worms. These worms block the body's lymphatic system--a network of channels, lymph nodes, and organs that helps maintain proper fluid levels in the body by draining lymph from tissues into the bloodstream. This blockage causes fluids to collect in the tissues, which can lead to great swelling, called "lymphedema." Elephantiasis is also called Barbados leg, elephant leg, morbus herculeus, mal de Cayenne, and myelolymphangioma. Most cases of elephantiasis are caused by filarial worms found in tropical and subtropical places and transmitted by mosquitoes. They occur in the poor in underdeveloped regions of South America, Central Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean. Elephantiasis...