A question about elephantia..

First....can elephantiasis be a birth defect and be present at birth? or is it just caused by a parasite infection only?, second....why was it called elephantiasis? is it because it causes abnormally huge body parts and thick skin similar to that of an elephant? or is it because of joseph merrick (the elephant man) because he had also abnormally huge body parts just like what this disease do?

read this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephantias...

explains it well

What Steven M said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephantiti...