The Biology and Control of the Amphibious Snails That Serve as Intermediate Hosts for Schistosoma Japonicum

1955 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence S. Ritchie
Author(s):  
Richard S. Demaree ◽  
Donald M. Wootton

Cercariae (juvenile trematodes with tails) emerge from mollusk intermediate hosts and swim toward definitive hosts or encystment objects. The locomotor power is furnished by the tail. Upon reaching a suitable host or encystment object, the tail is cast off and the cercariae penetrate and/or encyst. Ultrastructural studies of cercariae are sparse. There is even lessUltrastructural studies of cercariae are sparse. There is even less information about the tail structure; and body-to-tail morphology has been documented only for Acanthatrium oregonense and Schistosoma japonicum.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Geng ◽  
Peng Zhou

AbstractThree major human coronavirus disease outbreaks, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), occurred in the twenty-first century and were caused by different coronaviruses (CoVs). All these viruses are considered to have originated from bats and transmitted to humans through intermediate hosts. SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, disease agent of COVID-19, shared around 80% genomic similarity, and thus belong to SARS-related CoVs. As a natural reservoir of viruses, bats harbor numerous other SARS-related CoVs that could potentially infect humans around the world, causing SARS or COVID-19 like outbreaks in the future. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge of CoVs on geographical distribution, genetic diversity, cross-species transmission potential and possible pathogenesis in humans, aiming for a better understanding of bat SARS-related CoVs in the context of prevention and control.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e4171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan R.O. Allan ◽  
Michael S. Blouin

Schistosomiasis is a detrimental neglected tropical disease that is transmitted by Planorbid snails. Understanding the transmission and control of this disease requires an extensive understanding of these intermediate hosts, which is only achieved by the effective rearing and study of species such asBiomphalaria glabrata. This species is the intermediate host forSchistosoma mansoniin the New World, and is also the main model for studying schistosomes in mollusks. Antibiotics are used routinely inB. glabratatissue culture, and occasionally on live snails. Here we show that standard doses of three common antibiotics (penicillin, streptomycin and gentamicin) drastically diminish the activity of healthyB. glabrata, but that treated snails recover rapidly when placed in fresh water. Ampicillin treated snails did not show altered activity. We suggest that researchers keep these apparent toxicities in mind if a need for antibiotic treatment of live Planorbid snails arises.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1663-1674
Author(s):  
Ranjit Sah ◽  
Nayanum Pokhrel ◽  
Zareena Fathah ◽  
Akihiko Ozaki ◽  
Divya Bhandari ◽  
...  

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus – 2 (SARS-CoV-2), an emerging novel coronavirus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has now rapidly spread to more than 215 countries and has killed nearly 0.75 million people out of more than 20 million confirmed cases as of 10th August, 2020. Apart from affecting respiratory system, the virus has shown multiple manifestations with neurological affections and damaging kidneys. SARS-CoV-2 transmission mainly occurs through close contact of COVID-19 affected person, however air-borne route is also now considered as dominant route of virus spread. The virus has been implicated to have originated from animals. Apart from bats, pangolins and others being investigates to play role in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 as intermediate hosts, the recent reports of this virus infection in other animals (cats, dogs, tigers, lions, mink) suggest one health approach implementation along with adopting appropriate mitigation strategies. Researchers are pacing to develop effective vaccines and drugs, few reached to clinical trials also, however these may take time to reach the mass population, and so till then adopting appropriate prevention and control is the best option to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infection. This article presents an overview on this pandemic virus and the disease it causes, with few recent concepts and advances.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel A.M. Rossi ◽  
Henrique M.S. Almeida ◽  
Rafaella P.M. Guimarães-Peixoto ◽  
Emílio C. Acevedo-Nieto ◽  
Paulo S.A. Pinto ◽  
...  

Abstract: Taenia solium is a zoonotic tapeworm of great importance in developing countries, due to the occurrence of human taeniasis and cysticercosis. Pigs have an important role in the biological cycle of the parasite as intermediate hosts. The scientific literature has been describing risk factors associated with the occurrence of this disease that must be avoided in countries with poor sanitation, in order to reduce the exposure of swine to the parasite eggs. This research focused on testing pigs of non-technified rearing farms for serum antibodies against Taenia solium in the region of Jaboticabal municipality, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The found prevalence was 6.82% (CI 95% 4.18 - 9.45) at animal level and 28.87% (CI 95% 16.74 - 40.40) at herd level. These figures are probably associated with low technification adoption during animal rearing in the studied area, which increased the exposure of the animals to risk factors associated with the occurrence of Taenia solium complex. The results found based on serological evidences of swine cysticercosis in the studied region serves as a warning to public sanitary authorities to improve public health and control T. solium.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo J. P. S. Guimarães ◽  
Corina C. Freitas ◽  
Luciano V. Dutra ◽  
Carlos A. Felgueiras ◽  
Sandra C. Drummond ◽  
...  

Geographic Information Systems (GISs) are composed of useful tools to map and to model the spatial distribution of events that have geographic importance as schistosomiasis. This paper is a review of the use the indicator kriging, implemented on the Georeferenced Information Processing System (SPRING) to make inferences about the prevalence of schistosomiasis and the presence of the species ofBiomphalaria, intermediate hosts ofSchistosoma mansoni, in areas without this information, in the Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The results were two maps. The first one was a map ofBiomphalariaspecies, and the second was a new map of estimated prevalence of schistosomiasis. The obtained results showed that the indicator kriging can be used to better allocate resources for study and control of schistosomiasis in areas with transmission or the possibility of disease transmission.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. e1778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Gordon ◽  
Luz P. Acosta ◽  
Darren J. Gray ◽  
Remigo M. Olveda ◽  
Blanca Jarilla ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 2091-2096
Author(s):  
Sirikanda Thanasuwan ◽  
Supawadee Piratae ◽  
Anupong Tankrathok

Background and Aim: Parasitic infections are one of the major problems to the production of cattle in Thailand. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites of cattle in Kalasin Province, Thailand. Materials and Methods: A total of 333 fecal samples of cattle were collected directly from the rectum. The fecal samples were subjected to formalin-ethyl acetate concentration methods for examination. The eggs or oocysts were identified based on the morphology and size of the eggs or oocysts. Results: Out of 333 fecal samples examined, 320 were found positive for GI parasitic infections with a prevalence of 96.09%. Overall, among the prevalence of nematodes, trematodes, and protozoa, the most prevalent parasites were Strongyle-type 278 (84.24%), followed by Strongyloides spp. 54 (16.36%) and Trichuris spp. 75 (22.73%), while Protozoan oocyst recorded Eimeria spp. amounted to 131 (39.7%). Fasciola spp. and Paramphistomum spp. were 67 (20.30%) and 81 (24.55%), respectively. Most of the positive fecal samples were infected with the double infection which has the highest prevalence rate of about 40.24%, followed by single, three, and 4-5 types of parasites 30.63, 16.82, and 7.21%, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggests that Kalasin Province is highly endemic for GI parasites and this area may be an important source for an outbreak. Therefore, every household should deworm its cattle and eliminate and control snails as intermediate hosts. Findings from this study provide information that will assist in improving the cattle in Kalasin Province for better production and higher profitability.


Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Ricardo Diego Duarte Galhardo de Albuquerque ◽  
Mohamad Fawzi Mahomoodally ◽  
Devina Lobine ◽  
Shanno Suroowan ◽  
Kannan RR Rengasamy

Schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease caused by trematodes of the genus Schistosoma, is the second most prevalent parasitic disease in the world. It affects around 200 million people. Clinical treatment, prophylaxis, and prevention are performed in countries susceptible to schistosomiasis. In the pharmacological treatment for an acute form of schistosomiasis, the use of antiparasitics, mainly praziquantel, is more common. As an alternative way, prevention methods such as reducing the population of intermediate hosts (mollusks) with molluscicides are important in the control of this disease by interrupting the biological cycle of this etiological parasite. Despite the importance of pharmacological agents and molluscicides, they have side effects and environmental toxicity. In addition, they can lead to the development of resistance enhancing of parasites, and lead to the search for new and effective drugs, including resources of vegetal origin, which in turn, are abundant in the affected countries. Thus, the purpose of this review is to summarize recent studies on botanical products with potential for the control of schistosomiasis, including anti-Schistosoma and molluscicide activities. In addition, species and plant derivatives according to their origin or geographical importance indicating a possible utility of local resources for countries most affected by the disease are presented.


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