Swimmer's itch control: Timely waterfowl brood relocation significantly reduces an avian schistosome population and human cases on recreational lakes.

Swimmer's itch (SI) is a dermatitis in humans caused by cercariae of avian and mammalian schistosomes which emerge from infected snails on a daily basis. Mitigation methods for SI have long been sought with little success. Copper sulfate application to the water to kill the snail hosts is the historically employed method, but is localized, temporary, and harmful to many aquatic species.

The Tails of Two Avian Schistosomes: Paired Exposure Study Demonstrates Penetrates Human Skin More Readily than a Novel Avian Schistosome from .

A novel schistosome from snails currently known as avian schistosomatid sp. C (ASC) was recently described as being capable of causing the papules associated with swimmer's itch. We conducted a paired study with 24 human volunteers, exposing each of their forearms to five drops of water containing cercariae of ASC or and examined the skin for papules 1-3 days later.

Use of qPCR-Based Cercariometry to Assess Swimmer's Itch in Recreational Lakes.

Swimmer's itch (cercarial dermatitis) is a nuisance encountered by bathers and recreational water users worldwide. The condition is caused by the penetration of larval digenean trematodes (cercariae) of the family Schistosomatidae, into the skin, following their release into freshwater from pulmonate snails that serve as the intermediate hosts for these parasites. This study utilizes qPCR-based cercariometry to monitor and quantify cercariae from water samples collected at 5 lakes in northern Michigan.

Impairment of retinal function in yellow perch by metacercariae.

Histologic studies of fish from Douglas Lake, Cheboygan County, Michigan, USA show that spp. infect the lens of spottail shiners () and common shiners (). In contrast, infection was confined to the choroidal vasculature of yellow perch (), and the morphology of the pigment epithelium and retina in regions adjacent to the metacercariae was abnormal.