Podoconiosis in Rural Tanzania

A 30 year-old woman who lived in the southern highlands of Tanzania presented with a 5-year history of progressive bilateral foot and ankle swelling. Mossy-like papillomata and block-shaped toes involving both feet were apparent, and the swelling had the consistency of a “water-bag” (Figure 1). The patient denied travel to Tanzania's coastal region. The symptoms of elephantiasis in the absence of exposure to areas where the mosquito vector for Wuchereria bancrofti is found make lymphatic filariasis unlikely and suggest podoconiosis