Like other nematodes, M. ozzardi is a cylindrical and bilaterally symmetrical worm, with a pseudocoel, or a false body cavity.

The exterior of the parasite, the cuticle, is a protective layer that can withstand the harsh environment in the digestive tracts of the human hosts.

It is prominent in the subtropical, tropical, and temperate regions of Central and South America (Mexico, Panama, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina), and the Caribbean.

Endemicity levels vary widely among rural villages, situated a few kilometers apart along the same rivers in the western Amazon Basin of Brazil.

The black fly serves as the intermediate host for the filariae parasite in the Amazon Basin and mainland South America.

Blood meals occur throughout the day and night, but biting activity peaks during the early evening.

Although the adult worms live in the body cavities and the mesentery, they do cause clinical manifestations to their human hosts.

Even though there is no significant evidence for it, but in certain regions in Central and South America where both M. ozzardi and O. volvulus co-occur, skin biopsies have always showed that onchoserciasis is the cause for corneal lesions.

Microscopic examination is the most practical diagnostic tool used to identify the M. ozzardi microfilariae in blood samples from infected patients.

Researchers are currently developing a polymerase chain reaction-based method of detecting the parasites in skin biopsies.

[6] Because M. ozzardi harbors the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia, doxycycline may be an effective therapy to eliminate adult worms.

While DEC works well against many filarial parasites, it is not effective in treating M. ozzardi microfilarial infections.

Extensive networks of waterways must be treated with insecticide since blackflies have the ability to fly with the wind for several hundreds of kilometers.