TY - JOUR
T1 - Pilot malacology surveys for the intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis in rural and semi-urban areas of the moyen-ogooué Province, Gabon
AU - Agobé, Jean Claude Dejon
AU - Kariuki, Henry Curtis
AU - Zinsou, Jeannot Fréjus
AU - Honkpehedji, Yabo Josiane
AU - Grobusch, Martin Peter
AU - Adegnika, Ayola Akim
N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This research received no external funding and was conducted with the financial support of CERMEL through the funding granted to AAA by EDCTP through a Senior Fellowship training award TA_11_40200 (www.edctp.org (accessed on 25 May 2021)) and by the European Union’s seventh Framework Program 7 for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement N◦ 242107. Funding Information: This research received no external funding and was conducted with the financial support of CERMEL through the funding granted to AAA by EDCTP through a Senior Fellowship training award TA_11_40200 (www.edctp.org (accessed on 25 May 2021)) and by the European Union?s seventh Framework Program 7 for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement N? 242107. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - The objective of this pilot malacological survey was to identify the snail intermediate hosts for Schistosoma haematobium in endemic rural and semi-urban areas of Gabon. Snails were collected, morphologically identified, and tested for infection by cercarial shedding. Released cercariae were morphologically identified using low-power light microscopy. A total of six species of snails were collected throughout the study area, with Bulinus truncatus, B. forskalii, and Potadoma spp. being the most predominant species collected. Only the Bulinus species were tested for infection by cercarial shedding, of which only B. truncatus shed cercariae. Some B. truncatus shed mammalian schistosome cercariae, while others shed Gymnocephalus cercariae. Our results indicate that B. truncatus appears to be a potential intermediate host of schistosomiasis in Gabon, where cases of S. haematobium, S. guineensis, and S. intercalatum infection are reported. However, it will be important to further understand the species diversity and transmission dynamics of schistosomes.
AB - The objective of this pilot malacological survey was to identify the snail intermediate hosts for Schistosoma haematobium in endemic rural and semi-urban areas of Gabon. Snails were collected, morphologically identified, and tested for infection by cercarial shedding. Released cercariae were morphologically identified using low-power light microscopy. A total of six species of snails were collected throughout the study area, with Bulinus truncatus, B. forskalii, and Potadoma spp. being the most predominant species collected. Only the Bulinus species were tested for infection by cercarial shedding, of which only B. truncatus shed cercariae. Some B. truncatus shed mammalian schistosome cercariae, while others shed Gymnocephalus cercariae. Our results indicate that B. truncatus appears to be a potential intermediate host of schistosomiasis in Gabon, where cases of S. haematobium, S. guineensis, and S. intercalatum infection are reported. However, it will be important to further understand the species diversity and transmission dynamics of schistosomes.
KW - Bulinus spp
KW - Cercarial shedding
KW - Gabon
KW - Schistosoma haematobium
KW - Schistosomiasis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122030273&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed7010001
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed7010001
M3 - Article
C2 - 35051117
SN - 2414-6366
VL - 7
JO - Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
JF - Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
IS - 1
M1 - 1
ER -